Posted by Thermionic [ 70.173.82.75 ] on September 24, 2005 at 15:45:39:
In Reply to: Black Gate is dead... posted by Damir on September 24, 2005 at 13:39:49:
I had read earlier this year that Rubycon was stopping it's Black Gate production in early August, after JelMax (Black Gate's design/trademark ownwer) failed to negotiate a suitable renewed production contract. But, I never read or heard any more after that.
What a sad day it is, knowing Black Gates will become scarce before too long, and the already insane prices will skyrocket. Granted, I'm sure all the dealers have stocked up the best they could, but still........
With the gradual decline of the huge Japanese tube audio culture (and the Japanese economy) over time that helped support products like Black Gate, it was inevitable.
We've already lost Shinkoh tantalums and Cerafine ALA can filter caps, and will undoubtedly lose a lot more high quality Japanese goodies as time progresses. Steve Melkisethian of Angela Instruments told me the other day that Riken Ohm resistors will probably be made only a couple more years. Tango has already shut down once a few years ago, then started up again, and reportedly their future is uncertain. Azuma tube sockets will probably be a thing of the past before long, seeing as how 99.9% of commercial tube amps have the much cheaper Chinese crap sockets.
Sigh...........
Thermionic 
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