Why Can't Modern Tube Manufacturers Make a Proper Tube?

I heard that they only had enough of some of the original materials for WE 300b to make something like 30,000 pairs.  

Obviously that original 300b recipe is long gone but I wanted to have a spare so I actually bought a spare pair just in case.  

Western Electric has acquired a lot of tooling to make small signal tubes.  I heard that they bought a bunch of the old Ei factory tooling and machinery.   

Hopefully they will be producing quality tubes in the near future.    They will be doing common power tubes.   

I really wish they would produce a 6922 but i think its not on their radar like guitar amp and common power tubes are.  

As for quality , my WE 300b tubes still test like new after a year of use, a lot of use. They sound great , I hope to get a long life out of thsm  

I guess we use different tubes. I have 50 tubes in my current systems, and have used tubes for decades… although less in number. I got a whistle in a tube a few years ago after several years of use and had on tube that died upon arrival. The rest have performed flawlessly for there entire life or are still in use.

If only more golden ear audiophiles made tubes…. Somebody better get on it before it’s too late and the age of tubes is over.

Oh. wait….

I also have had pretty good luck overall.  A lot of the tubes I replaced had a llt of hours and with the getter disappearing and silkscreen evaporated it was time to replace before meltdown.   

If you want close to zero maintenance then a Solid State amp is best.  I love tubes, I do, but they aren't always practical 

I just bought a  awesome little integrated amp.  I set it up in my main room and it sounded so good I left it there for a couple of weeks.   It's in another room now and i find myself using it a lot.   Turing tube gear on and off for short listening periods isn't really the best thing for tubes. Or when it 's 95 ° ...    

Now I'll come home , turn the little system on ,  listen a little and turn it off .   It get's me 80% there but I will always use my main system for longer periods

Ghdprentice makes a good point about the longevity of well made tubes.  A 6922 is rated for 10,000 hours , as are a lot of other small signal tubes 

I use e180f in my amp and have about a dozen or more pairs of NOS tubes , Mullard , Amperex, GE, Telefunken..   all relatively cheap, except the Tele.  Those were $75

I basically have a lifetime of tubes for that amp, also have a dozen 274b and 5r4gy tubes .    

After a year of use they all tested like new or close.  I can run that thing every day for years and never run out.  I probably went overboard but at least when I'm dead the next owner won't have to worry