[John Massaria]

relax

AND

 

[bigshot]

This hobby doesn't attract the best and brightest, does it?

 

[John Massaria]

no no it doesnt

tube curious? relax man

 

[Davesrose]

I don't understand the need to hoard on to tubes. I seriously hope tube collectors aren't like the people who hoarded toilet paper (at the start of COVID, I was amazed that I saw one man fill his entire shopping cart with 4 huge economy sized packages of toilet paper because 4 units was the limit the store had). My speaker setup is all solid state. With headphones, I do like the colorization of tubes in a headphone amp. I collected a small amount of vintage and new Eastern made tubes. I don't see the need for me to try collecting or replacing my tubes within my lifetime (as I got ones that are rated well and I don't spend a huge amount of time using them). There may be more of a doom and gloom now with inflation and current events with Eastern countries....but supply and demand will always be cyclical. There may also be more volatility with tubes as it's considered more "niche" with audiophiles and different musicians.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

We're probably entering a tube shortage just because of people hoarding them.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

This hobby doesn't attract the best and brightest, does it?

Is that a shot at the KZ forum on Head-Fi?

 

[hakunamakaka]

It is a commodity cycle in general. Inflation/shortage of materials. Good stuff will become way more expensive no matter if it’s tubes, speakers or headphones. It is a good time to invest in metals if you want a hedge against inflation.

Good tubes are not that easy to retrieve and differences in sound depending on amp can be huge. I still can’t replace my budged svetlana winged c tubes, bought couple of chinese/usa brandes ones and they didn’t sound good…

You don’t need spend much to get a good sounding tubes, but there are plenty of bad ones on market. Best bet for cheap and good tubes is in russian market, but in current situation it may be struggle

 

[bigshot]

Is that a shot at the KZ forum on Head-Fi?

It's a comment on people who insist on doing things the hard way when there are better and simpler ways to achieve the same thing.

 

[UmustBKidn]

It's a comment on people who insist on doing things the hard way when there are better and simpler ways to achieve the same thing.

That could be said of many online forums.
I have not personally found the residents of head-fi to be dull, ignorant, obstinate, stubborn, etc. On the contrary... I've had many fascinating conversations over 9-ish years on this forum. I don't think I would have stayed around if it had been less interesting.
There are those who believe strongly in their opinions and beliefs. It is not often profitable to debate or disagree with those of strong opinion. That doesn't necessarily equate to obstinacy. Sometimes, a bit more patience works wonders at making a convincing argument.
Ah, but be that as it may, life is too short to get your pants in a bind over minutiae. Sometimes it's best to say good evening, and return to listening

 

[bigshot]

What I was referring to was the pursuit of improvements that make no audible difference, or going after coloration in a way that is hard to control and costs a great deal of money, when there are much easier ways to achieve the same coloration.

 

[gregorio]

There are those who believe strongly in their opinions and beliefs. It is not often profitable to debate or disagree with those of strong opinion. That doesn't necessarily equate to obstinacy.

IMHO, the problem is not so much that they “believe strongly in their opinions” but that they believe it’s possible to have an opinion about something in the first place and/or confusing opinion with preference. For example, you can’t seriously have the opinion that 1+1=3, not only is it proven that 1+1=2 but the existence of our modern world is dependent on that fact. The only difference with this analogy is; everyone knows and accepts that 1+1=2 is not a matter of opinion, that it’s an incontrovertible fact, because there isn’t an entire industry reliant on claiming that 1+1=3, or at least raising doubt that it always equals 2.

Sometimes, a bit more patience works wonders at making a convincing argument.

That doesn’t work either. This “argument” has been going on for more than half a century, patience and everything else has been tried but (false) marketing always works on a percentage of people.

G

 

[UmustBKidn]

What I was referring to was the pursuit of improvements that make no audible difference, or going after coloration in a way that is hard to control and costs a great deal of money, when there are much easier ways to achieve the same coloration.

Ah, I see. I completely agree with that position, sir

 

[UmustBKidn]

IMHO, the problem is not so much that they “believe strongly in their opinions” but that they believe it’s possible to have an opinion about something in the first place and/or confusing opinion with preference. For example, you can’t seriously have the opinion that 1+1=3, not only is it proven that 1+1=2 but the existence of our modern world is dependent on that fact. The only difference with this analogy is; everyone knows and accepts that 1+1=2 is not a matter of opinion, that it’s an incontrovertible fact, because there isn’t an entire industry reliant on claiming that 1+1=3, or at least raising doubt that it always equals 2.

That doesn’t work either. This “argument” has been going on for more than half a century, patience and everything else has been tried but (false) marketing always works on a percentage of people.

G

Yes, false marketing works on some percentage of people.

If you want to see a horrible example, look in your local pet store, in particular the tropical fish section. Once upon a time, I kept many, both fresh and saltwater. The vast majority of supplements, cures, and things of that nature are pure fiction. I once heard a tropical fish store owner remark, that smart customers never came back to his store. So, I never went back...

In reference to the remainder of your post, I am reminded of an old saying:
"He who is convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still."

 

[hmscott]

relax

AND

Maybe we will get some domestic tube production back here in the USA

Exclusive: Western Electric confirms plans to tackle the tube crisis with it's Georgia Factory
https://guitar.com/features/intervi...c-confirms-plans-tube-georgia-factory-crisis/

RUSSIAN VACUUM TUBE CRISIS: US HIFI BRAND WESTERN ELECTRIC CONSIDERS BRANCHING OUT INTO GUITAR TUBES
The company currently manufactures vacuum tubes for audiophile-grade equipment in Rossville, Georgia.
https://guitar.com/news/industry-ne...rand-western-electric-branching-guitar-tubes/

ELECTRO-HARMONIX SOLVES ITS RUSSIAN TUBE EXPORT ISSUES, BUT PRICES WILL BE RAISED BY TARIFFS
The brand is "accepting new orders, processing backorders, and hoping to resume shipping in April 2022."
https://guitar.com/news/gear-news/e...ssues-prices-raised-tariffs-ukraine-conflict/

But, it seems they are recommending some not so "legal" methods for "getting around" tariff's?... I thought that in itself was illegal??

"Attention All EHX Tube Customers

The export restriction on Russian tubes has been resolved for now. We are accepting new orders, processing backorders, and hoping to resume shipping in April. Priority will be given to the oldest orders.

Considering various economic pressures, we must raise our wholesale prices. This price increase will apply to all back- and new orders. Also, there will likely be a further price increase for tubes shipped from our NYC headquarters once the government implements heightened tariffs against Russian goods, akin to the 35% rate Canada is now imposing. Other territories, including EU, UK, and Japan, are expected to follow suit.

For all non-US customers facing such heightened tariffs and with combined Russian tube orders of $3K or more: Consider having our Russian warehouse directly ship such combined orders to the nearest international airport in your country. That will avoid our having to pass along the cost of the heightened US import tariff. Otherwise, you will, in effect, incur a double tariff on shipments imported first to NYC and then to a country with heightened tariffs.

You can cancel any backorder, but we do not recommend this; there is a tremendous shortage of tubes."

"thetubestore" has much less panic in their "voice"...
https://www.thetubestore.com/

 

[hakunamakaka]

Economy is not a lightswitch that you can quickly turn it off/on. Pressure will be felt across all sorts of materials. What saddens me that I've sold my high end headphones, because now we will run into difficult inflation driven period. If I want to repurchase my headphones used it's 1k $ extra.....tubes too, my beloved sovtek 12ax7 lps was 20$ each not long time ago and seeing 30% hike in price already.

Energy sector was under invested and we rushed for wind/solar blindly too soon without any real solutions