Newproduction power tubes: Reliablity


There  isa topic going on  concerning power tube issues in his PL amp, 
Some of us have power amps with 4-12 power tubes,,  the higher number of the tubes in a amp means the more demand for  reliability.
The 2 countries making  the most power tubes are china and russsia, So basically we can say this is a Russia vs China shootout.

China has come out with incredible numbers of power tubes, varieties and styles. These are the SET tubes. Russia has a  far superior selection in the push pull category.
IMHO , as i do have a  push pull amp, I favor the russian labs as far as reliability. 
Here is where it counts, As we know, its no fun having a   multiple power tube amp, and hearing 1 or more tubes going bad. 
A  good tech is not cheap, nor so easy to locate.
So in terms of reliability/push pull, I have to side with the russian labs.
The one exception on russian power tube relaibility, is the russian KT150,, its a new tube and we have not yet had long term performance testing. It is  not a tube I am the least bit interested in. 


mozartfan
As if we needed any more reasons to side with Russia over China. 😂😂😂 My all-time favorite, happily #1 in sound quality, reliability AND cost, is JJ made in the Slovak Republic.
The Winged =C= (SED) Svetlana plant made some very reliable power tubes.      I hated to see the company fold, when their plant burned down.     Comparing them to my NOS GE and Sylvania 6550 iterations; their presentation was quite acceptable.     Used a couple octets, from Upscale, myself.     Now, unfortunately; most of what’s left are factory seconds.     As for me, if there’s a new sweetheart on the block; it’s the GL KT88, Russki repop.        They yield most of what I got from the NOS valves, in sound, and (over the past couple years) have displayed no reliability issues.
"As if we needed any more reasons to side with Russia over China."

For many people being married to a Russian is not a reason enough to pick Russian tubes over Chinese.

I've used KT150s for the past couple of years without issue.KT88s have been GL and JJ,no issues.