I know it’s been a while since my last post. Things have been a little hectic for my family this summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back to more regular posting in a few of weeks.
But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about the major changes currently taking place in the US economy and our supply chains, and some things we as hobbyists can do to help protect ourselves from problems.
The Problem
As anyone paying attention to the US economy over the last couple of years should be aware, the state of inflation, manufacturing, and supply chain management in the US hasn’t been good. And it’s getting progressively worse at an ever increasing rate. Monetary inflation has been running very high in both the materials and manufacturing sectors (other sectors as well), low margin manufacturers both at the middle and upper tiers are being forced into bankruptcy, and the stability of supply chains has become much more precarious.
This affects us as hobbyists in a number of ways. As part prices increase and availabilities decrease, not only is it more difficult to get parts, but the quality of what we are purchasing becomes much more suspect. This is because the tight market conditions have given rise to many less reputable firms creeping into the manufacturing and supply chain at all levels. And even major distribution platforms are largely incapable of policing the situation.
As an example, even arguably the largest distribution platform on the internet, Amazon, has become overrun with disreputable sellers in the last two years peddling everything from poor quality goods to full-on counterfeit items. And these suspect items range all the way from just questionable quality to full blown dangerous items. And it’s not just the major sellers but some smaller outfits as well. This used to be just “an Ebay problem”. Now it’s spread to sellers across the internet. And it’s almost impossible to tell at first glance what you’ll be getting by buying any particular item.
Not only have I personally been affected by this problem in the last couple of years, but I have had to help out several builders whose problems were eventually traced to faulty and counterfeit parts.
The Approach (I won’t say ‘fix’ because it’s not)
So that’s the problem we’re facing, but how do we protect ourselves? I suggest taking a two prong approach.
The first prong has to do with how we buy parts for our projects. This is actually the easy part. We need to be much more selective in how we buy parts and supplies. This means largely only buying parts from reputable outlets with good customer service and return policies. This means buying electrical components directly from industrial suppliers like Mouser, DigiKey, or Newark. It means buying transformers directly from manufacturers like Hammond, Edcor, or Musical Power Supplies. And it means buying amp parts and tubes from major resellers like Antique Electronics Supply, Tube Depot, or Radio Daze. It also means avoiding marketplaces like Amazon, Ebay, or Temu. I talked about this problem indirectly with respect to hookup wire in the post Don’t Do It! a little over a year ago. But the situation has gotten progressively worse in the last 12 months.
I admit, it’s fun to look at various sellers and see what look to be identical (or nearly identical) items at far lower prices than major distributers. It’s very tempting to buy from these little known sellers that pop up in a google search. But that’s where the problems start. I’m not saying that you can’t sometimes get good quality from small sellers like these. What I am saying is that there is no way to know what you’re getting. And when you build with suspect parts, that’s where a lot of problems can start.
I fully realize that this will increase out of pocket cost for projects. However, the difference is small compared to the time and effort saved in trouble shooting issues caused by low quality and counterfeit parts.
The second prong in dealing with the current situation is, as the Russian proverb says, to “trust, but verify”. What I mean by this is simply to never take the assertions of the seller at face value. And this means some additional work when parts arrive. This means that when you receive parts, especially electrical parts, some testing is required. I talked about this in relation to capacitors and resistors in the post Component Tolerances & Modern Manufacturing back in 2022. Resistors need to be spot checked for value and tolerance. Capacitors need to be measured and a sampling run at close to maximum rated voltage for several minutes. Inductors should at least be checked for reactance near target frequency.
I realize that this all takes additional time and effort which could be spent drilling, soldering, and testing our projects. But it is effort well spent which will head off many potential problems down the road, and will result in a better quality and much more reliable project when finished.
How to Approach Testing
This need not require a bench full of new or expensive test equipment. A Fluke model 106 currently sells for ≈$79 USD. And a Fluke model 107, which includes diode testing and frequency measurement, sells for ≈$104 USD. With either of these very affordable meters you get not only the ability to take most of the measurements you need, you get the certified assurance from Fluke that you can actually trust the results. And both include true input protection for working on high voltage circuits like vacuum tube amplifiers. Given the cost involved in most of our projects, these are very small prices to pay for very high quality test equipment.
I really wish we could buy things off the internet and simply trust that we are getting what we paid for in terms of both specification and quality. Unfortunately this is no longer possible. But the two steps I’ve outlined above will help in assuring that your project builds progress smoothly from concept all the way through finished product.
As always, questions and comments are welcome.
Just confirmed that a local supplier that I occasionally used has just shut down for good (NTE electronics). The shutdown has been attributed to cheap, often counterfeit, no-name components from offshore vendors on ebay and Amazon. 😡
It’s been happening a lot in the last 24 months. Just another reason that we need to support our local businesses. Even if it costs a little more and/or takes a little longer.
I have been looking at the websites of other small suppliers I use. They all seem to be going out of stock on a lot of basic items (resistors, capacitors, LED’s, etc). Contrary to what the politicians tell us, the supply chains are still badly broken. Even some supermarkets in my area (Philadelphia PA metro area) are still frequently out of stock on staple items.
Moral of the story:
Buy well known name brand parts from reputable suppliers with a long history.
And yes, Amazon has turned into another ebay “junk shop”.
Hi Matt, good to hear from you again.
I share your concerns, I myself have been severely burned buying stuff over the internet, especially eBay. As for Amazon, unfortunately you can no longer trust the reviews, especially the Amazon Vine reviews where they send you free stuff if you review it. Also, the Amazon review guidelines are ridiculous and make it difficult to give an honest critical review. One advantage of Amazon is that they have a 30 day return policy, no questions asked. I often buy electronic parts from Amazon with this in mind, and if I receive junk from them I return it immediately. I think around 25% to 35% of the electronic parts I get from Amazon get returned, especially stuff from China. One problem with this is that I have bought a few things from Amazon that when I received them, they were obviously returns from someone else, and were damaged or modified by the original purchaser. I think Amazon is getting better about this but it is still a problem. Again, I’ve been saved by the 30 day return policy if this happens. I also like Amazon Prime “free” shipping because it is usually pretty quick, and shipping from Mouser, DigiKey, (or anyone else) is expensive especially for fast shipping, though as you point out you generally get quality stuff from them. When buying parts for a project from Mouser, DigiKey, I almost invariably forget something (or ordered the wrong value by mistake) which results in expensive shipping for just one or two parts. I’ve also had good luck using the other electronic parts vendors you mentioned.
Hii Matt,
It is nice to see a new post. I hope you and your family are well.
I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and feel the same way.
There was a time when surplus items could be found a secured.
Now, it seems that the best route is through established names.
The slower economy will likely cause a slowdown in hobbies.
On the flip side, it might lead to more repairs of older equipment.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello Matt:
I hope this does not turn into a listing of all the problems people have been having with the price increases or fraud over the last few years as I do not think this is the intend of your comment.
I do share your concerns though. I too have been anxious about ordering parts from various suppliers around the world. I rarely buy the cheapest item and often look at the number of years the seller has been registered with the internet service provider either Amazon or AliExpress or Ebay. etc. I lean towards companies with a number of years registered as a seller. I am hoping they have a reputation to uphold.
As I am focused on tube audio, most of my tubes are either used or NOS. Luckily I do not need to purchase too many more tubes. Transformers come from manufacturers and hardware comes from reputable suppliers.
I believe if the price is too good to be true. It likely is, and something is amiss. Not all differences in price can be summarized as profit taking, many are reductions in quality.
I do miss going into a shop and talking to a guy and buying the right part I need while being surrounded by electronic supplies.
Glad you are getting things sorted out and will be back to publishing thoughts ideas and comments on audio soon. Myself, I am just finishing off a PP 6LU8 amp right now. I have fallen in love with Compactron TV tubes. My next project will be a SE UL 6he7. A sleeper tube for sure.
Take care
Scott,
Is the PP 6LU8 layout going to be 4 Compactron tubes lined up in a row?
Dan
Hello Dan:
The PP 6lu8 chassis lay out is such that the Power supply is on one side with 2 6cg3 in front of a Hammond 270fx transformer. The two channels of 6lu8 are beside that. the 4 6lu8 tubes are set up in 2 rows. One row being in line with the rectifier(damper) diodes.
My builds so far have been to put the power supply on one side and amp section on the other. I find it helps to lower the risk of AC contamination on the signal. I energized it yesterday and all seems pretty good. I will be doing a bit of adjusting with the power supply today. Next will be to do some simple tests with the O-scope. Then I will set it loose to make music in the shop for a few days while I finish the cabinet work then into the living room to share the love. I will post a few pictures over on DIYAudio for those interested.
Sorry for the interruption Matt.
Thanks for the description. I saw that Tony Tescon built PP amps with this tube on DIYAudio about ten years ago. It seems then you could buy a surplus 6LU8 for $1.