[lonewolfny42]

Jason, what you really want are some of the KR T1610 power triodes. They can dissipate 150W and have a cool factor off the charts. 'Course they probably cost as much as your car, are likely hard to drive and are just the thing to have with a baby in the house. Just kidding of course but they are some big, bad ass triodes. About the size of a wine bottle they say.

Click the link to Levi's gallery....and have a look around...

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;album=767

[SET Man]

....... KR, EML and new production WE 300Bs at $700-1000/pr seem to sell very well.

Hey!

    Yeah, hard to believe how much these tube cost now. 

When I bought my SET amps back in 1999 they came with a pair of KR 300BXLS. Back than they cost $475pr. That was fine with me. It stay like that for a few years than when up to about $575pr than $675pr. The bigest jump came in 2008 went from $675 to $910.

    Well, back in 2008 I decided to buy a new pair for my SET amps. I got a pair of 842VHD for $675 one day before they raised up to $910... whew! Must the the weak US$. But! Guess what? Now they are $1100pr!!!!!!!!!  Man! Should have bought another pair at $675. Dang! At current price I could have bought a new Chinese tube amp that come with tubes too! 

   Man! This is something I'm trying not to think about when I look at them now. But the good thing is that when turn my amps on and listen to music I totally forget about that. So, with that I guess they are worth it than. Extremely well built and sound good. And maybe that's why I've been with my amps for 10 years now.

   BTW... the old pair still sound very good after all these yeas even after many years of heavy use... I think I could go another 1-2 years with them. So, my new pair should last me another  7-10 years. But than how much will these tubes cost 10 years from now? 

Take care,
Buddy

[lonewolfny42]

Buddy....

Here's a price list (MSRP)...dated Sept. 1, 2009....for the KR Audio tubes....their getting up there...

http://www.worldsbesttubes.com/tube%20msrp%20list.html

[TerryO]

Buddy....

Here's a price list (MSRP)...dated Sept. 1, 2009....for the KR Audio tubes....their getting up there...

http://www.worldsbesttubes.com/tube%20msrp%20list.html

Ouch!

Doc Bottlehead gave me some NOS RCA blacktop 2A3's at VSAC a few years back as a prize for having won the coveted "Kowtow" award. Maybe I shouldn't use them as targets for my BB gun.
 

I'm kidding about the BB gun of course, but they really seem to have gone up a lot.

Best Regards,
TerryO

[Quiet Earth]

Is it worth it to pay, say $3,000 instead of $2000 for something?

Yes.

[Angaria]

Would like to second Josh's technical note on the  JJ 2a3's by saying that they took my Elekit 2a3 from a pleasant to listen to amp (with electroharmonix), to my all-time favorite tube amp under 3K.  Has a sense of ease and great bass impact.  Nice that they have reasonable pricing too.

[Niteshade]

I don't see it as a logical choice right now for my brand. I would have to raise my prices by 50% so retailers, either internet or curb-based won't be undersold. Too many people are sensitive to pricing to justify a price hike.

I think tours are the best alternative. Listening to something in your own home without a permanent obligation solves the problems you mentioned and is one step ahead of listening in a store.

In the future, I will do something that is amicable to retailers because it makes good sense and your points are valid.

Yes.

[JoshK]

All power triodes are expensive relative to most audio pentodes.

Indeed.  This is due to economies of scale.  We are piggy-backing on the guitar/MI industry.  They don't use audio triodes, so they don't get the scale factor that the pentodes do.

[Niteshade]

Hurray for guitar amp manufacturers! 

I hope they keep on going as well as they are...or do better!