AudioRoundTable.com: Thermionic Emissions

Home » Audio » Thermionic Emissions » Tubes from Russia

Show: Today's Messages :: Navigator :: Polls
E-mail to friend

Tubes from Russia [message #95342]

Sat, 05 March 2022 17:43

smartt
Messages: 178
Registered: March 2020

Master

With sanctions will this affect tubes from Russia?

Report message to a moderator

Re: Tubes from Russia [message #95345 is a reply to message #95342]

Sat, 05 March 2022 20:08

gofar99
Messages: 2060
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona

Illuminati (5th Degree)

Probably. Capacitors as well.

Good Listening
Bruce

Report message to a moderator

Re: Tubes from Russia [message #99835 is a reply to message #95342]

Thu, 01 October 2026 01:10

Kurt
Messages: 41
Registered: December 2025

Baron

Hey man,

Looking back from 2026, yeah, the sanctions hit Russian tubes hard.

I run Tung-Sol and Sovtek tubes in my Evo 400 and Rogue Cronus. They’re still made at Reflector and sound excellent when you get a good matched set — sometimes better than old NOS. Reliability stays solid if the power supply is right and you don’t push them.

Getting them here has been patchy for years, though. Shipping, payments, and tariffs made stock uneven and prices higher.

I keep JJ tubes as my everyday ones now because they’re consistent. Chinese fill the gaps. I still buy Russian when a decent batch shows up because they work great in my amps, but I don’t count on them like before.

Demand for real tubes isn’t going away. Plenty of us still want that feel. Heat’s still an issue in summer, so I switched around, but the tubes keep going.

Is anyone still finding good Russian stock regularly?

Report message to a moderator

Re: Tubes from Russia [message #99838 is a reply to message #99835]

Thu, 01 October 2026 11:32

Rusty
Messages: 1476
Registered: May 2018
Location: Kansas City Missouri

Illuminati (4th Degree)

I haven't looked into Russian tubes for any reason because I'd laid in a supply of over 100 Sovtek 6C19PI output tubes for my two monoblock OTL amps prior to the sanctioning. I'm grateful now I unwittingly did that just because even then, buying those tubes domestically was overly expensive.

I think I paid about 2 or 3 bucks a tube from a Russian supply house. I've retubed these amps with them with satisfying results. Each amp uses 16 of them. So, I'm REALLY glad I got that deal while it lasted. For an OTL topology, which has always been noted for high consumption of vacuum tubes. This brand, Transcendent Sound, does justice with the load put on output tubes. My original tubes lasted close to two decades. But I run my solid state amp in the hot midwestern summers. That helped.
Alas, Transcendent Sound no longer exists. Bruce Rozenblit was a pioneering DIY tube designer.

Report message to a moderator

Re: Tubes from Russia [message #99907 is a reply to message #99838]

Mon, 09 November 2026 01:15

positron
Messages: 165
Registered: May 2020

Master

I have heard from others concerning problems with stability,
tubes cheery and/or arcing of russian output tubes. I
experienced problems myself near higher rated plate
dissipation levels.

I did some checking and found that the 1 grid is not gold
plated on some/many russian output tubes, so possible
thermal runaway problems can rise.

But even more important, the rods holding the grids (esp #2)
are aluminum, not copper. Excessive heating will cause aluminum
to warp, thus the dissipation of both plate and screen grid
needs to be limited. I am running 29 watts plate dissipation,
and no problems so far concerning run away etc.

Hope this helps in understanding the problems concerning
stability and ratings with at least some russian output
tubes.

pos

Report message to a moderator

Previous Topic:

Tube amps on PC.

Goto Forum:

-=] Back to Top [=-

[ Syndicate this forum (XML) ] [

] [

]

Current Time: Mon Nov 09 02:14:12 CST 2026