List of Current Production Tube/Valve Manufacturers and Brands

In the tube hobby for the past 4-5 years or so and noticing a distinct evaporation of the supply of many NOS tubes used for HiFi.
I thought it would be helpful to list the current tube manufacturers, their country of origin and some of the brands they make.
Please add to the list as you are aware. Thank you.

JJ/Tesla Slovak Republic
JJ
Tesla


Xpo-pul /(formerly Reflector) Saratov, Russia
Sovtek,
Electro-Harmonix
Svetlana
Tung-Sol
Mullard
Genalex


Shuguang, China
Shuguang
Valve Art
Golden Dragon
Sino
PS Vane
Primaluna ?

 

Just a clarification. JJ and Tesla are different companies, JJ produces tubes for audio and Tesla industrial components. Tesla ceased producing audio tubes in the earl 90's (IIRC), and sold it's audio tube division, which became JJ.

jeff

 

I believe most of the ones in Russia are owned by New Sensor out of Long Island, NY.

 

KR Audio - Czech Rep
Emission Labs - Czech Rep
Elrog - Germany
Takatsuki - Japan
Sophia Electric - USA
Western Electric (status uncertain) - USA

All boutique new production, very expensive.

 

Who makes TJ Fullmusic?

 

Nice list Benzion, definitely boutique specialists.
I do question if Sophia Electric are made by Shuguang. Those blue glass versions look very similar.

 

Can anyone confirm that Primaluna tubes are made by Shuguang? I just assume they are because they are made in China.

 

It seems as if New Sensor is a musical instrument manufacturer that bundles vacuum tubes under the various brands.
It would be interesting to know who does the engineering and which ones are actually different or just re-branded.
EH (unique)
Sovtek (unique?)
Tung Sol?
Mullard?
Genalex?

 

Just hearsay, but that is what I have read. Also heard there was a fire at the factory, which is one of the reasons Primaluna branded tubes are becoming unavailable. Maybe someone can confirm.

 

They are all made in the same factory in Russia, 100% owned by New Sensor of Long Island City (Queens, NYC). There are some differences across tubes, not sure if they are brand-dependent. Engineering I would suppose is done in Russia - they have plenty of talent.

 

I have asked Kevin about the Primaluna tubes and although he never confirmed he indirectly implied to me that this is the case.

 

As alluded to, I wonder how many brands are ultimately "same factory" made.....

 

Not really. They did buy Electro Harmonix which serves the music industry (guitar effects pedals for example) but New Sensor has its roots in buying old tube makers brand names along with their ‘recipies’ if you want to call it that, and manufacturing them in resurrected tube factories in Russia.

For example, not all 12ax7 tubes were created equal. What TungSol did back in the day was different that what Mullard did back in the day, etc, etc. New Sensor would buy these old defunct companies brand names along with their special treatments, and start manufacturing them as faithfully as possible given today’s availability and quality of materials. So their TungSol 12ax7 really is different than their Mullard 12ax7.

 

PSVane has no connection to Shuguang now. Initially, the Psvane tubes were made by Shuguang tube factory under contract but now they have their own facilities.

 

In the New Sensor case - all of them are made at the same factory. They are not all the same tubes though.

 

Incidentally, the name "Psvane" was originally the result of a typo - they meant to call it "Pavane". Then they decided to keep it that way - I guess the mislabeled batch was too big to throw away.

 

Ruby and Penta are also manufactured by Shuguang.

 

Who is Psvane? – Premium Vacuum Tubes

New Chinese tube brands Linlai and Grant Fidelity?

Premium Vacuum Tubes

 

Interesting, I did not know about Linlai.

 

Adding to the list:Western Electric (US) manufactures new 300B tubes although availability is limited.

Original Western Electric 300B Vacuum Tube — Western Electric - Maker of electron tubes and high fidelity

 

$$$$$$$$ !

 

this is interesting ! seems like most are unique but i would guess there are some re-branded among those.

 

I know!

 

New IEC china?