I have a tube-related question... Who bought all of the old GE or RCA tube making machines and brought them back from Russia or Czechoslovakia (or wherever)?
I remember talking to a guy back in what seems like 2010 that said his company was doing that to go into full production in Pennsylvania.
Asking for Aspen Pittman.
There were a couple of attempts to bring tube manufacturing back to the US but I don't think either one was able to make a go of it that I know of. I never heard if they even produced a single tube for resale. Most of the tubes made today are from Czechoslovakia, Russia, and China. If I remember correctly, many of the Russian tubes were excellent quality and China was the lowest quality.
I helped in the liquidation of an electronics and TV repair shop several years ago and many of the older tubes had increased in value substantially. Some of the tubes I remember buying for a couple of dollars growing up were being sold for $10 to $20 each and more and a few of the rarer tubes were sold for well over $100 each. Matched pairs even more. GE, RCA, Westinghouse, Mullard, Philips, Western Electric, Sylvania, Tung-sol, and Amperex are some of the brands I remember. Some of the new-old-stock tubes were 20 to 30 years old and the tubes checked good while the boxes they were in were deteriorating. I still have the vintage tube checker. It's in my storage room with my vintage Garrard turntable
