Non-Vacuum Tubes

[Dmoney]

these may have been brought up here before...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URvfywUxWzk

but check it out. price he mentions at the end is a big much though to be a reasonable alternative to preamp tubes.

[HTH AMPS]

hmm, they're looking at being £150 minimum by the time you get them in the UK. 

IF they sound as good as my NOS Brimars and Mullards and will last a lifetime, then 'maybe' I'd try one.

otoh, I have a lifetime stash of NOS ECC83s already of which half will most likely ever get used as NOS ECC83s last a long, long time.  I've got 30+ year old amps that had original preamp valves in there that are still going strong.  the quality of the old ECC83s was such that two complete sets of preamp valves are almost good for a lifetime of playing anyway.

The guy's idea is great, but the pricing is unrealistic to be practical for most players.  If they came in at £30.00 each I think people would go for them, but that would mean far-eastern manufacture which the guy seems to be opposed to.

[Denim n Leather]

A. Love this guy's mullet!

B. It's a boutique product and I expect that most people that can afford them will still be tube rolling against all the other valves they have spent valuable time and money acquiring.

C. Curiosity has got the better of me! I'm ordering 3!!

[Davey]

i'm more interested in the tech behind it.

[Dmoney]

i'm more interested in the tech behind it.

Likewise...
i like the idea. but yeah, preamp tubes last so long anyway that there operational lifespan isnt really the most interesting thing about them. i would be into hearing them in use. for the money it isnt worth playing around and I agree they would have to be mass produced, probably in the east, to get costs down. Maybe it would help the guy to trying selling the idea or something. to a US company maybe? there must be other hi-fi applications he could try marketing them towards?

[martinw]

If he's invented a way of making a solid state device mimic a valve in terms of signal transfer, he's done something that has eluded hundreds of engineers for 40 years.

He's then squeezed into a tiny package!

All of the things he states as advantages for his product are true of decent valves anyway, at 1/10 (or less) of the price!  :o

The technology doesn't add up. Bottom line is, it's a solid state device! Why would anyone pay all that money to convert their valve amp to solid state?

[Dmoney]

...Bottom line is, it's a solid state device! Why would anyone pay all that money to convert their valve amp to solid state?

Bottom line is this dude is far too american.

[Denim n Leather]

...Bottom line is, it's a solid state device! Why would anyone pay all that money to convert their valve amp to solid state?

Bottom line is this dude is far too american.

WTH is that supposed to mean?!

[gwEm]

...Bottom line is, it's a solid state device! Why would anyone pay all that money to convert their valve amp to solid state?

Bottom line is this dude is far too american.

WTH is that supposed to mean?!

indeed, he seems cool to me.

i'd be interested in trying one, but not at that price.

[Oli]

I do like the idea of having two differing characteristic triodes in the same package, that's quite a cool idea, but they're priced way out of my league unfortunately.

[jpfamps]

This has been done before, by I think either Mesa Boogie or Seymour Duncan, I can't remember which.

They made a plug in 12AX7 replacement.

I suspect the fact that NOS examples of this device don't command high prices would suggest it wasn't a success......

[Dmoney]

...Bottom line is, it's a solid state device! Why would anyone pay all that money to convert their valve amp to solid state?

Bottom line is this dude is far too american.

WTH is that supposed to mean?!

 hahahah! im just joking man...

[Adam.M]

It all sounded good... then he got to the price.

I'm almost on the floor laughing!

[JamesHealey]

BOLLOX!!

I'll stick to my NOS Mullard, Mazda, Brimar and JAN Philips pre-amp tubes thanks.

Toss bag.

[Spitfire]

is it just me, or would a power valve replacement be more interesting?  ive never had a problem with preamp tubes, they last for ages.. and ive never had a problem with them becoming microphonic.