Who Know much more about vaccum tube?

[radiocrazier]

Tubes are the kind of components out of date,so is there anybody can use tubes making some gadgets? I'm the first one,and than anyone?

[saturation]

I know little about them, do you like the way they sound or are you making an electric guitar amp?

[Kiriakos-GR]

The only tubes that I have ever touch are those :

6C4
5763
6146
EL84
EL504
PL504
807
829

That's it ..

[Excavatoree]

I have some tubes for my old Tektronix oscilloscopes, at one time I was going to repair them.  I got discouraged about difficult to find, large, multi-section capacitors.  I do know that 500 volts doesn't feel so good.

I do have an old military TV-7 tube tester, and a Hickok 539C.  I have parts to build a tube amplifier, but I've never gotten to it.  There is something strange about connecting a 2000 era oscilloscope to a 1960's era tube tester and looking at waveforms....

[Balaur]

Of course, if you are familiar with DIY Audio, you can always find a lot of tube applications.
(However, I do have a general reserve about how the tube enthusiasts go around preaching their stuff; for me it's more a question of style than function. As an example, a very well known headphone amplifier uses tubes as a preamplifier stage while the actual headphone driving work is still performed by an OPAMP)

There is a somewhat resurgence of tube-powered audio devices for mass-consumer applications. I've recently found in my local multimedia/records/electronic superstore an iPod station with two small pre-amplifier tubes and a magic eye tube.

If you want to play with tubes, please go ahead. This a perfectly good aspect of the electronics hobby. But don't have unreasonable expectations about it. Specifically, don't try to build from the start your next mega watt audio amplifier, everything will be too costly (especially the output transformer). I enjoy toying with old technology (Nixie tubes FTW) but I've spent too much time in my youth around smelly old TVs and radio stations to like tubes.

[TheWelly888]

A few years ago I watched a video of a French guy making his own vacuum tubes using his lathe, glass blowing skills and small sheets of tungsten which I thought was awesome. Sadly the link ( http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/make_your_own_vaccum_tube.html ) to his video no longer works and I don't think he posted it to YouTube either.

A few minutes after posting this I found the video posted by someone else - split into two parts because the original was 17 minutes long. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

[RayJones]

The coolest tube would have to be the "magic eye" tuning indicator.

Then the gas filled trigger tubes.

And yeah, the good old nixie tubes - digital electronics in valves was a huge breakthrough - emphasis on the huge physical size 

[sonicj]

http://smedia.iworld.com/39110BK_ExcusesTubeAmp.flv

*edit - dang! it didn't embed the video. 

[saturation]

Wow, its more than just someone's garage, from the gear he has and the look of his hands he must have been in the business of manufacture at some point, its looks ready for low volume production of tubes; he also has the equipment to test and characterize it, which makes it appear more that just someone DIY for himself.

A few years ago I watched a video of a French guy making his own vacuum tubes using his lathe, glass blowing skills and small sheets of tungsten which I thought was awesome. Sadly the link ( http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/make_your_own_vaccum_tube.html ) to his video no longer works and I don't think he posted it to YouTube either.

[radiocrazier]

Of course, if you are familiar with DIY Audio, you can always find a lot of tube applications.
(However, I do have a general reserve about how the tube enthusiasts go around preaching their stuff; for me it's more a question of style than function. As an example, a very well known headphone amplifier uses tubes as a preamplifier stage while the actual headphone driving work is still performed by an OPAMP)

There is a somewhat resurgence of tube-powered audio devices for mass-consumer applications. I've recently found in my local multimedia/records/electronic superstore an iPod station with two small pre-amplifier tubes and a magic eye tube.

If you want to play with tubes, please go ahead. This a perfectly good aspect of the electronics hobby. But don't have unreasonable expectations about it. Specifically, don't try to build from the start your next mega watt audio amplifier, everything will be too costly (especially the output transformer). I enjoy toying with old technology (Nixie tubes FTW) but I've spent too much time in my youth around smelly old TVs and radio stations to like tubes.

haha,buddy,I had f1nished an earphone anplifier on january 3,the music isa little bad, distortion!But I changed anther 6N6 and adjusted it (made my our country,but maybe,It would be modelled on other tubes),The sound is not from the player, you may got it, i just can't believe it!sounds great!(OutPut transister is redoed by my self)

[radiocrazier]

The only tubes that I have ever touch are those :

6C4
5763
6146
EL84
EL504
PL504
807
829

That's it ..

These are all expexsive selled in the old things market.also,807.829 I have, and very expensive(but my tubes were very luckily,Cheap!)I have 2 boxes of tubes in my room

[radiocrazier]

Of course, if you are familiar with DIY Audio, you can always find a lot of tube applications.
(However, I do have a general reserve about how the tube enthusiasts go around preaching their stuff; for me it's more a question of style than function. As an example, a very well known headphone amplifier uses tubes as a preamplifier stage while the actual headphone driving work is still performed by an OPAMP)

There is a somewhat resurgence of tube-powered audio devices for mass-consumer applications. I've recently found in my local multimedia/records/electronic superstore an iPod station with two small pre-amplifier tubes and a magic eye tube.

If you want to play with tubes, please go ahead. This a perfectly good aspect of the electronics hobby. But don't have unreasonable expectations about it. Specifically, don't try to build from the start your next mega watt audio amplifier, everything will be too costly (especially the output transformer). I enjoy toying with old technology (Nixie tubes FTW) but I've spent too much time in my youth around smelly old TVs and radio stations to like tubes.

you are absolutely right,I have boxes of tubes, the out put transformer is made my myself it will cost me a lot of money but a little less, and I know it is costly,and I will not try the expensive tube such as 300B (I will never touch it becouse exp.)also I wanna make a tube Radio anplifier! If I can~

[rossmoffett]

I used to lurk at ampage.org and AX84.com when I was first playing guitar, at 16.  I wanted a vacuum tube guitar amplifier but couldn't afford to buy one, eventually I made it out of scrounged US Army radio equipment from the 50's.  When it died due to transformer failure a couple of years ago I never could throw it away even though I didn't have the money to buy the new components, now that I'm out of school and have the $$$ to re-make it with better components I'm going to soon.

Because of the vacuum tube guitar amp community I learned about tube electronics before transistors, they were strange to work with when I started studying electronics in school!

[Zero999]

Vacuum tubes are known as valves in the UK. The only use for valves is in novelty items or refurbishing/recreating old devices for display purposes. Many audiophools  believe valves sound better but that's a load of bollocks: solid state amplifiers have lower distortion, noise, wider bandwidth are more efficient and cheaper. Some like the distortion created by valves but this can be emulated using cheap semiconductors which have the advantage of being adjustable.

[radiocrazier]

A few years ago I watched a video of a French guy making his own vacuum tubes using his lathe, glass blowing skills and small sheets of tungsten which I thought was awesome. Sadly the link ( http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/01/make_your_own_vaccum_tube.html ) to his video no longer works and I don't think he posted it to YouTube either.

A few minutes after posting this I found the video posted by someone else - split into two parts because the original was 17 minutes long. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

I have saw it in my country, but it just divided in 7 parts.

[rossmoffett]

Some like the distortion created by valves but this can be emulated using cheap semiconductors which have the advantage of being adjustable.

Speaking as a guitar player who loves tube distortion, the tube emulation can be seriously sub-par, and awful.  I haven't been engrossed in audio products for going on 6 or 7 years now, so I'm not sure what the market is like now, but back then the only tube emulation that was any good was as expensive as buying a heavy, inefficient tube amp.  I hope it's better now, but the algorithms aren't simple or cheap to come up with for this.

It's hard to mess up a tube amp using tubes, they're very simple.  It's EASY to mess up an amp's distortion using semiconductors, they're awfully harsh sounding in comparison due to faster switching times.  Emulators mimic the delayed soft-switching times and other effects to copy the sound.

[PStevenson]

Vacuum tubes are known as valves in the UK. The only use for valves is in novelty items or refurbishing/recreating old devices for display purposes. Many audiophools  believe valves sound better but that's a load of bollocks: solid state amplifiers have lower distortion, noise, wider bandwidth are more efficient and cheaper. Some like the distortion created by valves but this can be emulated using cheap semiconductors which have the advantage of being adjustable.

I own quite a few valve amps and to be quite honest I agree with you, in fact I prefer the sound of a good transistor amp to a valve mainly because to get a decent sound from a valve you have to hit the power valves hard, which means you end up with bleeding ears and angry neighbours, I have the JCM 2000 DSL stack and I was given it precisely for this reason, the guy who had it couldn't turn it high enough to sound good and to be honest valves in audio just sound too fizzy. I'm actually going to get a valve replacement set which are essentially just a transistor circuit in a valve format you just slot into your EL34 bays.

that was a cool video, but he is going to be pissed off when he realizes DAB has been invented

[Balaur]

that was a cool video, but he is going to be pissed off when he realizes DAB has been invented

Well, this particular gentleman is an amateur radio operator. His motivation for building the tubes consists in realizing radio transmitters that could be used to contact distant operators, with a specific goal of a trans-atlantic contact. The goal has been fulfilled by another operator with these DIY tubes.

Now don't tell these people that wireless mobile phones and internet exist . It's the same as telling every electronics hobbyist that you can buy any electronics you want at Walmart and why bother doing that by yourself.

[PStevenson]

I was just joking dude, I think it's very commendable of any kind of electronics hobbyist building stuff! I would much rather build stuff than buy it from a shop even when it costs more to build it myself - especially when it costs more to build it myself haha.

[Zero999]

The good thing about building your own is that it's done to your specifications. Another option is to hack premade devices to get them working how you want.

[rossmoffett]

I own quite a few valve amps and to be quite honest I agree with you, in fact I prefer the sound of a good transistor amp to a valve mainly because to get a decent sound from a valve you have to hit the power valves hard, which means you end up with bleeding ears and angry neighbours,

My biggest tube amp is an 18W 2xEL84.  My next tube project is going to follow a trend that was starting when I went to college and stopped worrying about guitar amps.  You can use a 12AU7 tube as an output amplifier, making a 1/2 or 1 watt tube amp that you can crank to your hearts content.

http://amps.zugster.net/

[radiocrazier]

I own quite a few valve amps and to be quite honest I agree with you, in fact I prefer the sound of a good transistor amp to a valve mainly because to get a decent sound from a valve you have to hit the power valves hard, which means you end up with bleeding ears and angry neighbours,

My biggest tube amp is an 18W 2xEL84.  My next tube project is going to follow a trend that was starting when I went to college and stopped worrying about guitar amps.  You can use a 12AU7 tube as an output amplifier, making a 1/2 or 1 watt tube amp that you can crank to your hearts content.

http://amps.zugster.net/

12AU7 is very expensive,It's impossible to buy it,It is about 30-45$tu buy it(180-630RMB)  different level different price HIGH=EXPENSIVE

[the_raptor]

I like valves just because they are retro. I am currently getting into amateur radio and if I don't end up buying a radio with at least valve finals I will be building an all valve radio one day.

In amateur radio at least you normally need a fairly expensive radio to beat the transmit sound of those old valve finals radios. And even many of the post-2000 designed radios still don't sound as good (but many of them are even beat by early transistor radios).

Valve tech like the Ice Tube clock just makes modern displays look boring

[Alex]

I have built the Bijou headphone amp and its on my desk offering endless hours of HiFi music. I love the tube glow...



I am now collaborating with a friend from across the world on a nixie-based project. Cant say more at this moment, we will post here too when it is ready!

[vixr]

wow...nice amp. How long did it take to build? 
oh yeah...it was about 2 weeks. Here are some more pics of your amp...Hahahahahaaa!!!