10 thoughts on “Does This Explain The Recent Vacuum Tube Trend?

  1. In a way it does. In the overall its nothing more but hype and marketing. There are good reasons why we moved from tubes to transistors.

    The fun part here is that even though I mention transistors (like most people do) it goes WAY deeper than that. When dealing with a device which uses 'retro' tubes its fun to check out its schematics. That is; if you're actually able to obtain those. Normally you don't because well; the device is much to specific and professional for an amateur to have those, right?

    But if you do or could you'll most likely notice that the tubes play a rather small part in the overall. And this is where the fun begins. Tubes were used for much more besides 'simple' flow switching like a transistor. For example you also had analyzer tubes; the 'retro' signal meters..

    And when I'm in the mood while looking at hardware (which is very seldom on both cases) and let a salesman make an attempt to talk me into some overhyped piece of equipment I've used this a couple of times; "Say, but if tubes are as great as you say, why does this still have a digital analyzer in there? There are tube-based stereo analyzers, yet all this seems to use is a substitute for a transistor. How come? ". Which usually shuts them up 🙂

  2. Most musician-minded tube gear nowadays is hype… The good stuff still exists tho… In the high end home stereo and home theater market… I'm serious… And it's cheaper too….

    Ok… The secret is now out of the bag.

  3. Eh.. certain tubes do have certain characteristics. If that's what you're looking for then they're worth the money, just like any other desirable effect.

  4. There is actually a reason beyond marketing hype why vacuum tube amplification circuits have their justification. Overdriven tubes produce a different set of harmonics than transistors which is some cases (e.g. electric guitar) seems to be beneficial to the sound and the experience of playing. When complemented with a transistor overdrive on the front end the sonic potential of a tube guitar amp is even bigger. This works equally well for other electro-acoustic instruments. The lesson ultimately being: If you want to overdrive your amplifier then you should also consider tubes (unless you already know you don't want that sound). I don't know about synthesizer circuits like filters and oscillators.

  5. Why didn't they post that this comic is from TOOTHPASTEFORDINNER.COM ?

    Credit your sources! That's what a responsible author/journalist does!

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