quote:

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Mitt slutsteg :
ST-120 amp kit > $889 USD
240 volt power transformer > $50 USD
Both cap upgrades > $45 USD
TDR kit > $35 USD
Weber WZ68 > $30 USD
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Total = $1049 + $146 USD = $1195 USD
1200$ inkl frakt gick det på.

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quote:

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@dB

quote:Mitt slutsteg :
ST-120 amp kit > $889 USD
240 volt power transformer > $50 USD
Both cap upgrades > $45 USD
TDR kit > $35 USD
Weber WZ68 > $30 USD
----------------------------------
Total = $1049 + $146 USD = $1195 USD
1200$ inkl frakt gick det på.



Hur gick det med tull och moms? Klarade du dig undan från det?

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Rick, the post-Soviet "high-tech" industrial relations in Eastern Europe are confusing. To say the least. I'm not sure, how things are today. Here are just few observations, but I may be totally wrong... sorry for that.

Question concerning power-tubes only. Originally, in the times of Soviet empire, both Reflector (Saratov) and Svetlana (then, Leningrad) made tubes with the name Svetlana. Today the situation is slightly different.

Electro Harmonix is both a brand (or label) and a company from USA: it relates to our story only because there's Russian factories that manufacture tubes for or under the name Electro Harmonix (something like "Electro Harmonix - Made in Russia"). EH tubes, however, are made in several locations. In general, I've understood, the main interest of Electro Harmonix is not in hifi but in guitar amps and the like. At least the background of EH is there.

New Sensor Corp. owns (at least North American) rights to the name/label of Svetlana and is the owner or in steady business relationship with the Reflector Corp. (Saratov). So, on the U.S. market you have Svetlana's made by Reflector. They don't sell these Svetlana's to Europe.

Mike Matthews is the owner of both Electro Harmonix and New Sensor Corp. I don't get why he has to run two companies - for historical reasons, I guess.

Sovtek is a brand (not factory) and the new Sovtek's are made by Reflector Corp., I've understood. Other brands from Reflector in 21st century are (according to the different sources) Electro Harmonix, Gold Lion, Mullard, Svetlana S-Logo and Tung-Sol. Obviously quite decent manufacturer, that Reflector, huh? And quite many of these brands/labels are related to Mr. Matthews owned companies. In these murky times when China-made tubes with false labels/signs on them are almost everywhere these Matthews-owned brands should be quite a reliable ones. At least when you buy the tubes directly from New Sensor.

Svetlana: the original "real" Svetlana tubes are today made in Petersburg, Russia. Before the collapse of Soviet empire both Reflector and Svetlana made tubes with the name Svetlana. (And that causes confusions because modern Svetlana-company doesn't own it's name in the West. Something like that.) Perhaps they both were parts of some Soviet Army related electronics company. I'm not sure. After the revolution, it seems, ownerships changed etc. so today the situation is such that there are two non-related producers left - Svetlana Electron Devices (SED, the company & factory in Petersburg) and Reflector Corp. - that share the main heritage of Soviet tube manufacturing expertise. And New Sensor owns the Svetlana-label (that's why SED-made tubes aren't officially Svetlana's but it's exactly them we call Svetlana's... - it's quite like Michael Jackson saying to Paul McCartney during a recording session in the Eighties: oh by the way, Paul, I just bought your songs).

Sorry for the repetitions!

Reflector-made (sold by New Sensor) Svetlana's have S-logo; SED-made Svetlana's have "C"-logo (in Cyrillic, the letter "C" means our "S"). For hifi-use it's the "C"-Svetlana's that are the most yearned for KT88's. 6550's are also very well appreciated, I believe, but there's no such religion around them like it's with KT88's. Holy C!

It's worth mentioning that the old Czechoslovakian Tesla-giant (electronics, tubes etc.: Bohemia and Moravia were the industrial heartland of the old Austrian empire until the 1st world war, so there are traditions in fine-mechanics and such) was split with the split of Czechoslovakia into Czech and Slovak Republics after the collapse of Soviet empire: for example, the Austrian engineer Heinz Lichtenegger began to produce the Project turntables in old Tesla factory in Bohemia/Moravia. (I got my first Project in 1990's. They have good quality and they give bang for the buck but aren't sexy in the eyes of hifists/highendists.) On the other hand, in Slovakia JJ Electronic was established on the remnants of the old Tesla tube factory. JJ produces today tubes quite well appreciated. I have few of them in one small pre-amp: they're OK.

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