AOpen's New Motherboard with a Vacuum Tube for Richer Audio

[Blane]

http://club.aopen.com.tw/activity/tube/en/default.htm

[lotusfang]

Wow!!! Back to the future... er past.

- LotusFang

[RASTABT]

Just have to give this baby a tweak in the output stage.ClassA
Wish!

[LTR12101B]

A single tube?
Well, it could be a double-something (maybe a double tetrode or pentode) to do two channels, but certainly not enough to do an entire 5.1 sound system.

I suspect many of the perceptual advantages of "Tube Sound" could be achieved more easily using JFETS (semi-obsolete in favour of MOSFET), as they have a rther similar curved characteristic - which also made them great RF mixers until dual gate mosfets and packaged double balanced mixers took over.

I'm not sure you can "cheat" your way to true valve sound, not without using them in a power amplifier, driven HARD.

Valves (I'll slip into the UK parlance here) produce significantly more distortion than competent solid state technology, but their tendecy to "square law" curves, softer cutoff and saturation, means it tends towards "musical" second harmonic instead of the harsh odd harminics of overdriven solid state technology.

[lotusfang]

tetrode, pentode, jfet, mosfet,... u're reminding me of my college 'tronics classes.

- LotusFang

[ChiMusic]

I thought it would "look" great with those open side cases!

[LTR12101B]

Ok, what's the MOST number of grids in a valve - in ONE element

Octode? http://www.r-type.org/exhib/aah0021.htm
Nonode? http://w1.871.telia.com/~u87127076/fancy/ - mentioned in this dictionary (also called "Enneode")

Though, of course, the old power workhorse was always the beam tetrode - architecturally, very close to a pentode, but with beam forming plates instead of a third (suppressor) grid.

I tinkered with old radio gear for a while!

[lotusfang]

The closest I have ever come to an Enneode is a pentode, that too in a college textbook. Interesting links.

- LotusFang

[Fox Mulder]

This has been discussed long time ago @ www.hydrogenaudio.org forums

[Blane]

Dual Triode Tube Used on the board. There's lots of nfo here. http://www.tubebuilder.com/tubedata.html

[civilus]

That's all we need - another heat source inside the case

Why not have the bread toaster inside as well?

[LTR12101B]

Also, how will it fare in transport - LAN parties etc.

I get the suspicion that this might have been a demo model (sort of like a "concept car") that they were puished into building by the amount of interest.

[civilus]

Originally posted by LTR12101B
I get the suspicion that this might have been a demo model (sort of like a "concept car") that they were puished into building by the amount of interest.

No it's for sale at the retailers.
There are diferent models and I've read a couple of raving magazine reviews .. but they mentioned the heat as well, and that you loose 2 pci slots...