Western Electric

[marshman]

Hooolll-llleeee Scccchhhh!!!!!!tt

http://www.westernelectric.com

I remembered hearing something about this a while back, and it strolled into my feeble litle mind again this morning, so I looked it up. Man, that's steep. 300b audiophile tubes for $550 each (EHs run $130, JJ for $170). KT88s for $350 each (which is about what REAL ones are going for on the Bay right now, and new JJs are in the $70/pr range). And it seems that they're basically charging $100 to match up each pair. And let's not get into the whole "Genalex Golden Lion" name thing, I think New Sensor has helped us beat that horse to death.

I guess the big question will be can they live up to the reputation that preceedes them. I would be happy to hear that they are a huge success and are doing well, but I can't see many guitar players shelling out $800 to retube a KT88 amp. Given their pricing trend on the 300B and KT, can $125 6L6gc and EL34 be far behind?

Does kinda explian why GT took the glass portion of their 'home made' tubes to China, though, dunnit?

[GTRWUN]

My goooodddddddd.....I respect the obvious time and effort put into getting this facility up and going, but how is this gonna work with these prices? I dont get it.

[JKB]

Some people have more money than brains. Audiophiles will spend $1000 plus on a Power Cord! Have you ever seen high-end gear reviews? They invariably extol the sonic virtues of single-crystal quantum aligned and cryogenically treated extruded high purity silver (After the requisite "break-in period", of course. OK, there are legitimate cases where break-in applies (speakers, for example). A power cord? - Give me a break!

I think in most cases, the "break-in" period is the time between the initial "I can't tell the difference between this and zip cord" and the point when they manage to convince themsleves they haven't wasted their money. And of course "Blind A/B testing is not scientifically valid when evaluating audio gear".