Bob Blaylock
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #61
I have a portable tube tester. Really an essential tool for anyone serious about tubes.
What many people don't realize is that tubes are not obsolete. Not only are there still many professional applications where there is no SS equivalent that can handle the power, but while you won't find tubes in consumer appliances anymore, the tube remains the superior device for analog music amplification still found in endless high end audio brands and pro musical instrument amps.
I had thought that the CRT was the last form of vacuum tube that was still in widespread use, at least in consumer-grade equipment, until I learned that the magnetron inside of a microwave oven is actually considered a form of a vacuum tube.
And I am aware that three are many audio enthusiasts that are convinced that vacuum-tube-based equipment sounds better than solid state equipment. I haven't had occasion to make that comparison for myself, and I don't know that my hearing is fine enough to tell the difference, if there is, indeed a difference.
I did recently acquire a very nice 1957 or 1958 vintage radio, and have noticed that there does seem to be a richness to the way it sounds, that seems better than a more modern radio playing the same station. I don't know if the difference is real, or just a trick of my mind, and, if there is a difference, I don't know for certain, that it is because it is vacuum-tube-based.
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