Western Electric 6SN7 and more news update: Just had an interesting and productive discussion with Charles Whitener of Western Electric. I wanted to confirm production of the 6SN7 tubes seeing that I have pre-production samples and I want more. He seemed very pleased with my results using these tubes. Story is the Russian situation has somewhat thrown a wrench into previous production plans. They feel it’s a priority at this point and rightfully so that they cater to and supply needed tubes for the music industry so they are moving in that direction. As far as the 6SN7 goes they are looking at a six-9 month release date. They will also be producing a new piece of equipment (I didn’t quite catch what it was amp, preamp? ) that will be designed for using 6SN7’s. The above is certainly good news and I do hope many of you will be able to experience these tubes in the not to distant future. They’re something else! Those in Canada who are interested can contact Tri-Cell Enterprises who have been the knowledgeable distributors for Western Electric here for 20 years. Hope this helps.
Good to hear, everything uses the 6sn7. With that said, would be nice if they designed whatever preamp or whatever it is around an inexpensive readily available tube but that wouldn't match up with the tube they are producing and selling so oh well haha
WE makes very expensive tubes. What will this new 6SN7 cost? Audiophiles ordered these tubes a year ago and have not received anything.
I think the price will be relatively reasonable. I don’t see how anyone could have actually ordered any as they haven’t even been “officially”announced yet. People might have put their names on waiting lists. I’m just happy for finally getting confirmation of the upcoming production.
Part of why I sought out a non-300b amp is I knew I'd always wish I had the WE 300b's, and at $1500 a pair I felt that was just a bit out of my comfort range. I would imagine that a pair of these couldn't be less than $600, but heres hoping! Also yeah, the quoted statement, totally made up
I'm certainly going to invest in a pair when they finally become available. I know you have had these in your Preamp for several months now, I'll pay a bit of a premium for quality any day.
I do hope they’ll be a bit less. Unless of course if the world economic situation keeps growing more progressively nuts.
First, this is great news. I believe the price will be reasonable. It must be. If not, that would be a big fail for WE. It is not like the 300B tubes where prices are usually high and choices are limited. There are many good NOS 6sn7 that sound great and are relatively cheap so the competition will be tough. The best new production 6sn7 in my experience is the LinLai and their global elite costs around $265 per pair, cheaper if someone orders from eBay.
Their 6SN7GT may be priced around the $300 mark which is the price from Linlai factory shipped and Grant Fidelity, their authorised dealer. But this is the US and the cost of labor can't compete with the Chinese. But, I'd buy WE if it was priced in the $350 range. Due to the crash in the NOS tube market, holy-grail tubes are listed at way more than that price point. I've taken to buying near NOS tubes with published measurements from a trusted dealer.
As soon as they release the 6SN7’s, I will certainly be trying them. I have a feeling @Lowrider75 is on the mark with his reasoning for price. It’s no secret,I’m a big fan of the Linlai Elite 6SN7. I am very anxious to check out the WE.
I wish, obstacles aside they would just focus on tubes and not building gear I understand they probably need to sell gear to subsidize making tubes. But their gear to date has been a bit blingy and not what I would consider the WE aesthetic and extremely expensive. And thanks Khorn I appreciate the update it seems that at least it is a real product now and nice to know you have a direct line to WE.
Their high-priced components are not going to be their "bread and butter" items. With $125K monoblocks and a $12,000 CDP, tubes are where they'll make their money, as long as they're priced competitively. I'm pleased to see they are manufacturing wire again, available in many configurations. This could be a successful endeavor.
Don't let that dissuade you from a 300B amp. One of my friends has an ECC99/300B SET amp that has custom nickel interstage and output transformers (I imagine this is a $50k-70k SET amp with typical distro/dealer markup if it wasn't custom built) and I have heard mid to late 2000s WE and the JJ 300B actually sound better in some ways; they have more resolution and I preferred them for classical music as things like string and woodwind texture are clearer/more like real life instead of the more homogenized/blended textures of WE. The WE are undoubtably more romantic and bloomy sounding. Emission Labs also impressed me.
That was just a small part, I ended up getting a fantastic deal on my 2a3 set amp and am more than happy with it, any future upgrades would be to anything but it for the perceivable future
In Rossville, GA in the USA. I guess it takes time and the present facility requires a longer timeframe for scheduling different production runs. I would think they would be planning on expanding their facilities and capabilities. I’m happy to see genuine New Production USA tubes. Mine have USA right on them.
Wonder if they have plans of reintroducing the 437a, current NOS options are $1200+/tube. Would be fun to see
I have a feeling the 6sn7 has been abandoned for the foreseeable future. Just a gut feeling. I was getting excited to get myself a pair. Oh well…..
Not to sound grim but the whole revival of WE seems a bit odd to me. The owner is quite old, how much lifespan does this company realistically have? I suppose most issues with tubes occur early on but they're also making some really expensive amplifiers. Just speaking for myself, the longevity of the company is something I take into account when I'm buying hifi equipment.
Hey if you guys didn't see the very sad news our good friend Khorn has passed so I would imagine all 6SN7 updates are over unless they come directly from WE.
