Why are older tubes so much sought after

Who has a 401k anymore? -;)

In the world of audiophilia nothing is clear it seems. Many opinions and experiences with many variations of equipment all needing to addressed differently.

The only thing we can be sure of is some types of NOS are better than new versions and others are worse due to various factors.

A thread should be started stating the valve type and its number plus variants as NOS and newly manufactured valves. Just as a guide to their character. Something like the guy at Humble hifi has done with caps.

Out of interest I would love to know which age group you guys are from. Say over 30/ over 40/over 50/over 60s etc. I only say this because I am sure this is the last generation that has this knowledge or even cares!

I have been to many Hifi shows and shops and I dont see any teenagers there.

So maybe there will be many NOS valves left soon as no one will be left to buy them! I got into this hobby as a kid and grew up with it as I am sure most of you did. It seems to be only the stubborn few left.

All the kids have and will have small digital set ups. They probably wont be very interested in 2 channel sound at all in the home.

It would be a shame to loose all these experiences and knowledge for good dont you think? All those great records and recordings form a bygone era never to be heard as intended again.

Wouldnt it be great to catalogue them? Even just so someone can simulate the effect in the digital domain as physical modeling sometime in the future. This is where its all going. Its cheaper and who knows, probably just as good.

Never say never.

Sirspeedy wrote: "Very tight tolerences!"

Just a comment on a minor point. Tight tolerances has nothing to directly do with sound qualities. It only means whatever the attributes of the design, the finished product consistently meets specifications.

That could just as easily mean that the tube is consistently not suitable for audio.

I've noted there is a tendency by some to almost automatically ascribe good qualities to the old stuff. However, having lived in the 50s and 60s, I know that period of time had its share of poor and mediocre products. There is little doubt in my mind some tubes from that era are less than they could have been.

Underlying the discussion of whether this or that tube is better than another is the notion that there is an objective standard and that each tube fits into a specific spot along a worst-to-best continuum. That is hardly the case. It is a matter of the designer or the user finding a personal fit. There are so many more choices in older tubes, it is not surprising that one can, if one searches diligently, find older tubes that better fit the bill.

Manufacturers have to use readily available tubes, meaning, in most cases, currently manufactured tubes. Why go through the considerable expense of selecting NOS tubes when there is a good chance those tubes will not be the customer's preference anyway? Also, for those not inclined to try different tubes, the manufacturer has to be reasonably assured that the same tube is available many years from now to service that equipment. Just by pure odds, it is unlikely that the particular tubes chosen by the manufacturer will fit any particular customers idea of an optimal choice.

I am sure that, wholly apart from sonic considerations, certain older tubes have because of their "exotic" and rare status (people actually collect tubes, such as 300As). But, i can assure you that I would be glad to use current 6sn7, 12ax7s, etc., if they happen to work well for me. I pay a lot for the EML meshplate 2a3s I run because, they outperform anything else I have heard. In other words, I am not paying for their rarity (they are currently being manufactured), but I am paying a premium for performance.

NOS tubes are compared with new production by listening to them. It seems to me that comparitive measurements of what the tubes do to the signal waveform could lead to an understanding of what needs to be changed in new production tubes to make them sound like the old ones which people prefer. The laws of physics haven't changed, so there is no reason that tubes made today can't be superior.