Vacuum tubes

[Hakim Madjid]

Dan Strassberg wrote:

>Is that old RCA receiver in a wooden cabinet? If so, that may explain the
>great sound to a much greater degree than do the tubes. That said, a group
>of (wealthy) audio enthusiasts believe that "tube sound" is real. The
>engineers I know think this is bunk and can prove it with all sorts of
>repeatable, scientific measurements. However, since tubes have become scarce
>and hence quite expensive, vacuum-tube audio equipment has become very
>popular among those who are unimpressed by science and who delight in
>spending lots of money to prove that they are true audio afficionados. These
>same people also spend hundreds of dollars on gold-plated speaker cables and
>other such claptrap. I wonder how many of them also believe in "intelligent
>design."

It' not necessarily just the wooden cabinet, but the general internal
acoustical design of the speaker system in the radio...etc. Back in
the day, (I assume that Counsellor Ross' radio is of 1950s to mid
1960s vintage). - this was way before most consumer electronics were
made by $2/hr labor in China - the manufacturers paid more attention
to sound quality, tuner performance...etc.

I have heard that the reason that the $2,400 per meter speaker cable
crowd likes vacuum tubes, is because the type of harmonic distortion,
that a tubed amplifier generates is pleasing to the ear, and is
perceived as a warmer, 'richer' sound, if you will.

73 de Hakim (N1ZFF)