fsjonsey said:
They didnt go under,
They apparently dumped an extremely large lot of old low value tubes into the market via a liquidator. He listed 1.5 - 2 million low value tubes in one lot on ebay for a quarter million dollars.
They just had a really good bio on Richardson in the local paper here and they are bigger and stronger than ever according to the article.
Trout
Majestic said:Lol! That was my reply on another thread that someone else started!
Hey this was my thread! ... weird ... whats happened? Just curious
Gianluca
My earlier post led to about a dozen emails from people looking for cheap tubes, often asking for specific numbers. I even got two emails asking if I was abandoning the vacuum tube world. So I want to be a little more clear.
I am not leaving the vacuum tube world. I have not been able to engage in my usual "experiments" lately due to a family emergency. This whole situation, and the instability of my job has led us to make a decision to drastically lower our living expenses. Tubelab Inc. has lost money in every year of its existence. The largest single money sink is warehouse rent.
At this point we plan to keep the tubes that can be used in audio, and dispose of the remainder of the tubes and other "stuff". I do not have an inventory list. The tubes are all loose (not in individual boxes) and unsorted. I have sorted about half of them by size. It is hard to believe that "Tubelab" would willingly toss tubes into the dumpster, but 300 pounds (weight) of magnetic counting tubes had to go. They got no bids on Ebay.
I also have more "projects" than I could possibly complete in two lifetimes. Many of these do relate to audio. After I return from an upcoming trip I will sort through these and assess what to dispose of. All will be listed on Ebay.
There are several possible scenarios that could force a change in these plans. If I am forced to sell everything quickly, it would be far cheaper than 1/4 million.
I am not leaving the vacuum tube world. I have not been able to engage in my usual "experiments" lately due to a family emergency. This whole situation, and the instability of my job has led us to make a decision to drastically lower our living expenses. Tubelab Inc. has lost money in every year of its existence. The largest single money sink is warehouse rent.
At this point we plan to keep the tubes that can be used in audio, and dispose of the remainder of the tubes and other "stuff". I do not have an inventory list. The tubes are all loose (not in individual boxes) and unsorted. I have sorted about half of them by size. It is hard to believe that "Tubelab" would willingly toss tubes into the dumpster, but 300 pounds (weight) of magnetic counting tubes had to go. They got no bids on Ebay.
I also have more "projects" than I could possibly complete in two lifetimes. Many of these do relate to audio. After I return from an upcoming trip I will sort through these and assess what to dispose of. All will be listed on Ebay.
There are several possible scenarios that could force a change in these plans. If I am forced to sell everything quickly, it would be far cheaper than 1/4 million.
Some tubes developed for later TVs are nice for audio. I used some 12-pin GE tubes in projects with great results (triple triodes, triodes-pentodes, double pentodes) , but supply of them is very problematic... I could name 3 types developed for Soviet era tube TVs, but still want to buy them cheap so will not name...
I wonder who's buying and who's selling these days. In the UK, Jim Fish at Wilson is selling up and Gerry at Crowthorne too. Langrex look healthy and are buying, though they have the usual complaint of having loads of unsellable tubes. Colomor have loads of stuff that's lingering on shelves as well.
These are some of the people who have warehouses of stock. Then there's a whole different type of tube dealer like Edicron in the UK who only buy in current stock and then only as and when there is a demand - makes sense.
I'm wondering who have the really huge NOS stocks in the USA - the warehouses full. I think Antique Electron Supply bought up Alltronics which was already quite big. I think ESRC must be quite big because they're always buying.
Interesting business - I wonder what profit there is in it.
These are some of the people who have warehouses of stock. Then there's a whole different type of tube dealer like Edicron in the UK who only buy in current stock and then only as and when there is a demand - makes sense.
I'm wondering who have the really huge NOS stocks in the USA - the warehouses full. I think Antique Electron Supply bought up Alltronics which was already quite big. I think ESRC must be quite big because they're always buying.
Interesting business - I wonder what profit there is in it.
http://www.micronetics-trading.com/page2.html
Here's another big warehouse in Geneva - Switzerland. 700,000 tubes. the business passed from father to son, and son used to post on Audio Asylum a lot, but seems to have gone a bit quiet.
Here's another big warehouse in Geneva - Switzerland. 700,000 tubes. the business passed from father to son, and son used to post on Audio Asylum a lot, but seems to have gone a bit quiet.
Stan at ESRC took over the business that his father started years ago. I used to go see him regularly when he and his father ran the business together in Boynton Beach. They had a fair size warehouse full of tubes. By his estimates there were 500,000 then. After his father passed, Stan and his wife packed everything up and moved to Orlando. I have seen the new place it is at least 5 times as big, tubes floor to ceiling, all organized and cataloged on computer. Stan knows his tubes and can usually tell you if he has a tube without looking at the computer. I have stumped him a few times though. He never heard of a D3A and didn't know where to get them. They are very rare in the US. I have sold tubes to Stan and I have bought tubes from him. Always a good deal.
Yes, as most who have followed my experimentation know, some work very well.
Oh, so I shouldn't have written up my 6AV5 and 6LW6 experiments. I still have several hundred pounds of randomly sorted sweep tubes and about a ton of small TV tubes. Maybe I should not talk about them once I find a good use for one? Nah, I chatted up the 6AV5 pretty good and they are still $3 or $4 each.
Yes, I can remember buying 5842's for $4 each but these were never produced in the quantities that most TV tubes were. Some sweep tubes (the 6JE6C/6LQ6 in particular) were driven up in price to stratospheric levels by the illegal CB linear amplifier market. Some of these amplifiers were poorly designed and ate tubes far faster than any metal head banging guitar player could ever do. I remember a beast called the Phantom 500, It used 10 24LQ6 tubes to produce about 500 watts of RF. Tubes lasted 2 or 3 months with heavy use. Now these tubes cost $50 each because there are few left.
There were a few big sweep tubes that came out near the end of the tube era that are getting pricey (6LW6) because they were only made for a few years. I don't think that all of the DIYers in the world could ever make a dent in the supply of 6BQ6's or 6DQ6's. OOPS, I shouldn't have mentioned those numbers....
http://www.nj7p.org/Tube4.php?tube=6af9
Has anyone taken a look at the 6af9 dual pentode? It uses an odd 10 pin noval socket, but has a power pentode and a signal pentode in one envelope, and very high transconductance. All of them appear to be made at the Mullard Blackburn plant. They go for a dollar or less on ebay.
Has anyone taken a look at the 6af9 dual pentode? It uses an odd 10 pin noval socket, but has a power pentode and a signal pentode in one envelope, and very high transconductance. All of them appear to be made at the Mullard Blackburn plant. They go for a dollar or less on ebay.
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