[Amps] Why do tubes cost so much?

[Hardy Landskov]

Bill,
I was sticker shocked myself when I wanted to buy a replacement 3-1000. I 
talked to a manager of Eimac in Salt Lake City who basically said the 3-1000 
was on its way out and the tooling, time, and resources necessary to do a 
run of 500 tubes made it manditory they jack up the price.
Look at any business model and there are fixed overhead expenses plus 
materials. A 6AU6 made by the millions compared to a 3-1000 in a quantity of 
500. This is economics at its root.
Thanks for your contributions over the years....
73 Hardy N7RT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill, W6WRT" <dezrat1242 at yahoo.com>
To: <amps at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2010 5:03 PM
Subject: [Amps] Why do tubes cost so much?


>
> I have often wondered why big tubes cost so much. The material in them
> isn't all that great and I would think because they are larger they
> would be easier to assemble than, say, a 6AU6 which is very small and
> intricate but sells for only a few bucks.
>
> I'm not talking about really massive tubes that take a fork lift to
> move, but tubes on the order of an 8877 or the like.
>
> Anyone know?
>
> 73, Bill W6WRT
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