tube manufacturing


Hi folks, can someone explain why the so called old new stock tubes are often superior to the tubes made currenly? Is it due to a lower quality standard of manufacturing these days or is it because people are losing skills necessary for tube manufacturing? I wonder: why can't we (with today's high tech manufacturing equipment) just copy those old Telefunkens, Siemens, GE's and Mullards?
dazzdax
Fatparrot has a valid point.

Yioryos, you state,
"Technology gets better and I don't accept the theory that we no longer can produce equal or better tubes".

If most cases, that is true. However, tubes are essentially obsolete except for specialized applications (radio frequencies & graphite plate tubes used in industrial heating.) In addition, even during the heyday of tubes, matching and testing of tubes for audiophile purposes was unknown.

And EVERY NOS/NIB and even old "used but test good" tube I have ever tried has sounded better, period. That's IMO, and in my system. Now I have not tried them all, but who has? But I have tried Sovteks, Svetlana's and Reflektor. Forget Chinese, too many other options. The only reason I have Reflektor's in my system now is because my pre was designed for a specific tube, and Russian is the only choice.

And the NOS ones sound MUCH better.
Jphii, Re: And EVERY NOS/NIB and even old .....has sounded better, period". Remember todays new production tubes which aren't worth a crap become NOS tubes when everyone has forgotten how bad they were. Want some Sovtek 12AX7 WTB's? And they are military grade tubes! I've got a few dozen. :-)
Newbee,

You know you need to hang on to them. In ten years when all of the "current production" tubes really suck, they'll be worth a fortune!