Can't imagine why you'da thunk that Any audio-Purist cockamamie stunt could rise to the level of er... evoking Mad-ness in moi? :-\ufffd

I get the 'server overloaded' bit currently (even when I go to Source, copy the working part of that link and try again) - even links within the site get same result.

I gather that someone has stuck a vacuum tube on a motherboard, for Purist-Audio\ufffd from The Source (?)

Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle..

Now *That's* Funny! especially because: the er 'Source' just happens to be a *&$%^ DAC which merely sorta-converts the Accursed-Digital Yes-No stuff to ersatz-Analog(ue) !!

Locked /Door /Barn /Cow /Gone.

Now the other link to the little barrel-shaped preamp - may not be so laughable (used as a moving-coil phono ctdge amp, say). But imagine having to generate a few watts of 200V, 6.3 or 13.6 V for filament, cooling that etc. (Needing a *real* mains transformer that is) -- to amplify a digitally-generated signal!

Sounds a lot like .nyet to me. But WTF - they make $Millions selling welding cable made from Litz-wire (for "speaker wires"!) to prolly the same customers as for this thingie..


Ashton

Will try later, see if I can spot a vacuum tube on a board full of digital commonplace gizmos. Might make a good image to put below,

I mean the use of nice dual triodes (and modern lo-leakage caps, film resistors etc.) In fact for several years after the first xsistorized audio stuff came out: it sucked! but such was/is the power of Hype that, some thought those glassy-sounds were merely er 'crisp highs' ... yada yada.

I was a Marantz dealer (and a couple other lines) in spare time - about as they also morphed in direction of solid-state. Had KLH-9 full-range electrostatic speakers, etc. and pretty much saw the birth of well... 'audio for Yuppies' (as opposed to originally, say - classical music lovers who had wanted Hi(gher) Fi(delity) sound reproduction = just that.)

Anyway - a Marantz 10B all tube FM tuner is today highly desired (it had one transistor: to turn on the stereo light)! Used Tschebyshev (sp) IF filters almost square in their selectivity and flatness and featured a built-in CRT = you could *see* multipath distortion, measure incoming signal strength and stereo separation.. Ditto a Model 8-B (Or the massive mono Model 9) vacuum tube power amplifiers (KT-88s) - with oil-filled main caps and the best possible xfmr design and other components. Etc.

These things would cost in the thousands today - and a lot of them went to Japanese audiophiles. (Hell, I peddled some unused original Mar. preamp *knobs* on eBay to Japan - think the set went for ~ $80 !! My leftover original schematics for most Marantz models also went for ~$100) I made copies natch, but otherwise not nostalgic for 'Owning' the original.

While much has transpired since the golden days, including 'Stereophile' Magazine's self-appointed role as Pope of weirdly expen$ive audio - I think many of the new crop are indeed competent engineers who are aware of the trade-offs VS human ears - and can use tubes in clever ways which have to do with music perception, and neither religion nor rank Silliness.

But there's a lot of Expen$ive Crystal-bottled Snake Oil being peddled to er 'effete intellectual snobs'? (who are, I deem: lawful prey ;-)

As to two tubes.. well, "push-pull" has a nice symmetrical ring to it - but in 'Class A' mode (hi dissipation on the tube curve, up to a linear region), single-ended need not be too shabby. BTW - the 12AX7 is a dual-triode already. Output tubes designed as tetrodes can often be connected as triodes (Marantz provided for this alteration) for less power and - a better spectrum analysis!

Also a cathode follower (equiv. of the emitter-follower today) for just impedance conversion / driving long lines -- gains nothing by splitting. But at the top-end of 'thought', there are lots of subtleties, arguments for even SS-regulated LV supplies -- for those patient enough to do a lot of experimenting, measurements and *always* careful blind listening tests.

As in most fields, there are the cocksure-Believers and then there are the engineer/artists. Never the twain shall meet (as in the other fields).


Cheers,

Ashton

Indeed - some well-informed comments throughout -- and.. little silliness! to boot.

In fact - several of the posts are among the clearest I've seem of the phenom of 'psych-acoustics' VS Hype. These would have merited a place in Audio Magazine in the olden days. Bookmarked for perusal later, a bit more.

(Your tip also exactly right-on: hmm, guess level 4 IS ~~ the level which screens out the useless crap sufficiently. Will remember that tip.)

Anyway - nice to see that the (actually rather difficult) topic is understood pretty decently, courtesy of at least one engineer AND musician.

A Soviet 6922 yet! That was a Premium expen$ive (hi-freq) tube, often used in the "distributed amplifiers" for state-of-art oscilloscopes (ie Tektronix). It featured *gold plated pins* too.. but dunno if it's That much better a choice for lo-level audio than a decent Telefunken or Mullard 12AX7A ... but I digress.

Gotta go back and see if I can find the actual mobo pic that prompted all this foofaraw - maybe later.



Ashton