# Why are there no Russian consumer products? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2019, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323 "2019-07-01T02:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/61 "2019-07-07T11:28:29Z")
Real audiophiles will insist on a computer [motherboard with a vacuum tube](http://ixbtlabs.com/articles2/aopentube/) for the best sound quality. 😉 (Early 2000s. Apparently never took off.) Yes, the tube is Russian. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/62 "2019-07-07T15:49:30Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > It’s not just for guitarists; [here](https://www.stereophile.com/content/balanced-audio-technology-vk-56se-power-amplifier) e.g. is an expensive stereo amplifier (Russian tubes, Russian designer/engineer, but he moved to the US in 1979) for listening to music. Apparently enough people like the sound of tube amps (and it’s not like comparable solid-state amps are much cheaper) that it’s worth making and selling the tube-based amps. I know someone who has one in his living room, from Nagra. I don’t know where the original tubes were made, but one can definitely still get Russian replacements. And while preamp tubes don’t really wear out - I’ve got several older than I am that I still use in some amps, and you can buy all kinds of ancient used preamp tubes - power tubes certainly do. Since I play out a lot, and at fairly high volumes, I go through them fairly often. It’s not uncommon for me to buy a set of 6 6550’s a year, because they’re actually worn out (it’s a pretty smart self-biasing amp that will fail out pairs it can’t bias, I’ve got a pair I need to replace now). Plus, folks buy assorted preamp tubes and switch them out because they’re chasing a sound - both guitarists and home stereo enthusiasts. So lots of tubes get sold to end users. I think they qualify as a consumer good. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/63 "2019-07-08T17:05:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > There is a lot of software on Steam, both games and dev stuff, from Russia. I wonder if Spintires has the Shaman and Sherp… then you could have a doubly-Russian experience… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/64 "2019-07-08T17:06:44Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > You’re right, it’s mainly just the tubes (although I am sure they make amps that just aren’t sold here) but how is it that the tubes aren’t a consumer good? The “niche” is not small, tons of players use tube-driven gear, myself included. Is that some sort of historical quirk, where the Russians still have working vacuum tube plants because they never quite stopped using them or something, while Western countries quit using them decades ago? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/65 "2019-07-08T17:35:37Z")
When I was travelling through India, in search of reading material, I bought a big fat book for cheap, new! It was “The Count of Monte Christo”, which I hadn’t read till then. It was printed in Russia. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323/66 "2019-07-08T17:55:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Is that some sort of historical quirk, where the Russians still have working vacuum tube plants because they never quite stopped using them or something, while Western countries quit using them decades ago? A quick googling tells me that it was something along the lines of them using them much longer (esp militarily, avionics systems, etc) than western nations. Apparently many of the Russian tubes were also direct copies of more popular western tubes so they were exact swaps. A drying up of the domestic supply of vacuum tubes, perestroika, and a collapse of the Soviet Union led to the factories continuing to produce them, and then they were able to alter their facilities to accommodate more popular types, like EL34’s, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-russian-consumer-products/836323.md?page=3)