• How it's Made: Vacuum Tubes
    47 replies, posted
[QUOTE=turd dad;43893463]glasswork is difficult to automate, it's cheaper to use human power[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Kyle902;43893505]Because machines don't have the ability to detect the imperfections that you see them filter out a few times in the video (like when he uses the hand torch when they were shaping the end terminal thingy.)[/QUOTE] I figured that to as much, but computer vision and robotics has come a long way so maybe now or in a few years it's possible, (probably more expensive then one with human workers).
i want one just to put on my desk. they look neat
[QUOTE=Koolguy11;43898851]Crazy enough, my dad just bought a Samsung audio dock with vacuum tubes. [thumb]http://techhive.de/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/DA-E751_L45.jpg[/thumb] It sounds really good and the tubes look pretty cool.[/QUOTE] for the low low price of 743 trillion dollars, your first born, your soul, and your wives soul!
[QUOTE=GoDong-DK;43894043]I don't think you'll end up hearing much of a difference between one using vacuum tubes and one using transistors, really. I'd imagine you would be able to measure some technical differences in frequency response or whatever, but that would be something only few - if anyone - would be able to legitimately discern.[/QUOTE] A transistor is either on or off, there's no in between. An analog vacuum tube has varying degrees of on for lack of a better phrase so as a result has a smoother and warmer sound.
[QUOTE=turd dad;43899925]A transistor is either on or off, there's no in between. An analog vacuum tube has varying degrees of on for lack of a better phrase so as a result has a smoother and warmer sound.[/QUOTE] However the switching happens so fast in an application like audio you can't hear a difference unless you have an amp that's [u]REALLY[/u] shitty.
[QUOTE=turd dad;43899925]A transistor is either on or off, there's no in between. An analog vacuum tube has varying degrees of on for lack of a better phrase so as a result has a smoother and warmer sound.[/QUOTE] Transistors are analog and not restricted to binary, do you even KNOW what a transistor/vaccuum tube does? Jesus christ.
[QUOTE=AugustBurnsRed;43899074]That's why Tube amps for guitars are so popular, the way they distort sounds great. Digital guitar distortion can sound good, but nothing can beat a tube. Digital is just too harsh most of the time. Dimebag Darrell used solid-state (transistor) amps though[/QUOTE] If you've got a nice bass to back it up, solid-state guitar amps can sound amazing. Without it, they just sound very tinny. Plus, distortion pedals tend to sound worse on solid-state. I just love the overall warmth of tube amps and the subtle tinges of distortion at higher volumes. Will I buy a tube-based speaker to listen to music? No, because that's too much maintenance for something I'll barely use. Guitar/bass tube amps all the way, though.
When my grandmother died my mother inherited her large floor standing tube radio. Supposedly it was broken and hasn't been on in decades. I had too much time and too much curiosity, poked around, repaired the frayed power cord and just plugged it in. Watching the tubes start to glow, smelling the dust cook and hearing the AM station over the speaker. It was an experience.
Having some fuzziness and distortion can be significantly more interesting than just having a crystal clear sound. Why else would combining music with rainymood.com be so kickass? [editline]13th February 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Sonydude;43902193]When my grandmother died my mother inherited her large floor standing tube radio. Supposedly it was broken and hasn't been on in decades. I had too much time and too much curiosity, poked around, repaired the frayed power cord and just plugged it in. Watching the tubes start to glow, smelling the dust cook and hearing the AM station over the speaker. It was an experience.[/QUOTE] Dust cook?
I have a fucking billion of these, my dad collected these. Literally have a wardrobe with tens of thousands of them.
Is this why old radios sound so neat and different? If so, I can see their use.
[QUOTE=genkaz92;43902552]Having some fuzziness and distortion can be significantly more interesting than just having a crystal clear sound. Why else would combining music with rainymood.com be so kickass? [editline]13th February 2014[/editline] Dust cook?[/QUOTE] Tubes can get pretty hot. I used to repair old tube radios at an antique shop. Some of them are death traps to work on, grounded to the chassis and if you touch it whilst its on you can have 600v jolting through your arm. i got a really nasty shock once.
[QUOTE=Tmaxx;43899898]for the low low price of 743 trillion dollars, your first born, your soul, and your wives soul![/QUOTE] And it's cheaper than an Xbox One! [url]http://www.samsung.com/us/video/home-audio/DA-E750/ZA[/url]
Those tube in the video may worth higher than 1000$ a pair.
I was actually teetering on getting a desktop amp with vacuum tubes. [url=http://www.innerfidelity.com/category/vacuum-tube-home-headphone-amplifier-reviews] Inner Fidelity[/url] I would kill for one to have wood aesthetics though. Something about that old-school meets new school look is very pleasing.
[QUOTE=bitches;43893526]why glass [editline]13th February 2014[/editline] i should first ask what exactly this tool does is it directly involved in letting the sound out, or as seems more likely, just an electrical part that needs a vacuum? given the latter, i don't see why plastic wouldn't work[/QUOTE] They need something that can easily form an airtight seal, structurally sound enough to not implode under the vacuum, and durable enough to survive the rather startling amount of heat vac tubes can put out. Plastic just can't do it. Plastic gets soft enough at the temperatures these things can run at to implode under the vacuum or spring a leak, and either failure means the tube no longer works. It also makes vac tubes very long lived. It's not uncommon to pull an antique TV out of a pawn shop and find it full of perfectly functional vacuum tubes. It's also why CRT computer monitors last so bloody long(The CRT is just one big vacuum tube optimized to do one thing). Basic summary is: Quality. [editline]17th February 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Snickerdoodle;43902877]Is this why old radios sound so neat and different? If so, I can see their use.[/QUOTE] Yup. You can easily hear the difference. For some reason vac tubes have a unique sound all to their own.
Honestly I would love something like this but only because it looks so awesome, as far as I know my ears are jank I can tell the difference between a shitty stereo and a good one, but beyond that I have no idea. Earbuds and headphones sound the same, and actual stereos all sound exactly the same. I got to tool around in a loaner 5 series a few years back that came with some ridiculous $4500 audio system and it sounded pretty much identical to the standard one.
Those are ridiculous price [URL]http://www.higherfi.com/spkrlist/speakerlist.php?category=amps[/URL] nothing really cost lower than 10000$, and highest price is over 3m$
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