"Russia’s Stranglehold on Vacuum Tubes"

Seems like a very Russian thing to have a stranglehold on.

From The Milken Institute Review:

Old Technology and New Sanctions

There are a thousand stories behind the effort to blunt Russian aggression with economic sanctions, and this is one of them.

First there was oil, gas and wheat. And now... vacuum tubes? To the list of goods that are suddenly scarce following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, add these hoary electronic devices originally conceived in the 19th century. Hard numbers are elusive, but the vast majority of vacuum tubes in use today were manufactured in Russia, which banned their export (along with hundreds of other products) in March in retaliation for Western sanctions.

Now, few people care about vacuum tubes — or, for that matter, know what they are — but those who do care, care a lot. Guitarists have long treasured audio amplifiers using tubes in place of solid-state components for their responsiveness and, ironically, the way they distort tones when they are pushed hard (think Jimi Hendrix). Some audiophiles, the sort inclined to drop an extra $20,000 for the state of the art, treasure tube-based amps for their warm romantic sound and some ineffable sense of harmonic rightness. It’s not just nostalgic boomers, by the way. Generations X, Y and Z have embraced tube amps along with vinyl LPs and film cameras.

This is not to say that the loss of access to freshly made vacuum tubes should make us think twice about punishing the Russian economy for the invasion. Tube audio is a niche within a niche. And since the companies making the highest-end amps are all privately held, no one even knows how much revenue is at stake. But the rarified market does amount to many millions, if not small-digit billions, of dollars. And Russia’s tit-for-tat announcement that it was freezing tube exports spawned a wave of panic buying, along with price hikes and hoarding.

Pass the Quaaludes

The wild rumpus got going with an announcement of the freeze from Electro-Harmonix, a U.S. company that sells tubes under several brand names — all of which are manufactured at its factory in Saratov, a city of 800,000 about 500 miles southeast of Moscow. Some tube vendors raised prices immediately, while others took their websites offline for the duration. Even those with plentiful inventory have been daunted by the volume of orders. 

“Where are the Quaaludes?” moaned Kevin Deal, proprietor of Upscale Audio, a major online retailer of tubes and audio equipment. “People are acting really foolish right now, buying tubes when they don’t need them. I will sell tubes at a reasonable price to my customers who have bought from us for years, not to some rich guy who’s looking to be the King Midas of tubes.”

Upscale has plenty of tubes, Deal said, but has suspended sales because it has run out of tested ones, and tube quality varies. “Every vacuum tube is different, and because they are made in Russia, China and Slovakia, these people are not inclined to say, ‘this tube’s a little funky, I think I’ll throw it in the trash,’” he said. “In a time like this, when all the top shelf stuff gets sold, you’re going to be left with more crap.”....

....MUCH MORE