Why tubes are better
Most people would think a person a bit daft to still be using vacuum tubes in an age of computers, the world wide web and
digital CD music. But, the fact is that tubes are as popular as ever. Japan, a country known for it's embracing of modern technology, is one of the places where you will find a lot of people designing and using tube audio. In fact, a lot of our vintage
American made tube audio equipment from the golden age of hi-fi (1947 to 1964) has found it's way to Japan and other
Asian markets. An amp that sells for $300.oo in the United States can bring several times that price in Tokyo or Hong Kong.
Tubes are alive and well. There are several manufacturers that not only make tube hi-fi equipment but also manufacture
new vacuum tubes! There are even CD players that have vacuum tube audio stages! One very old design that has become
very popular is the zero feedback single ended triode amplifier. This is a very simple amplifier that uses a single triode
for it's output tube. These amplifiers are very simple and have minimal components in the signal path. This gives them
a very open, uncluttered sound. Most people who own SET amps will rarely go back to pushpull amps or any type
of solid state amplifier. The SET is the McIntosh Computer of tube amps. As anyone who has ever used a Mac as opposed
to a PC running Windoooozzzeeee, they know why 'once you go Mac you never go back!'. For many it is the same
with a SET amp. But with these amps, there is a price to pay. They are very inefficient. So a triode with a plate
dissipation of 100 watts will only give you about 15 watts of pure class A triode power to your speaker! that is
not a lot of power from an amp that could heat a small bedroom. But, fear not. There are several companies who cater to
SET amps and the people who love them. Lowther makes some fine speakers with very high SPL efficiencies
which are specifically designed with the SET amp owner's needs in mind.
Now, most people own push pull amps. The class AB1 push pull amp is the work horse of the tube amp industry.
It is the best compromise between sonic quality and overall efficiency. A push pull class AB1 amplifier can easily
deliver 20 watts with a pair of pentodes rated at 12 watts plate dissipation. A pair of 6L6's can easily give the hi-fi
enthusiast a rock solid 30 - 40 watts of clean power in a push pull circuit. Most of the golden era hi-fi amplifiers
are of the push pull design. In fact, after World War 2, only table radios and inexpensive home audio used
single ended amplifiers. But prior to 1940, big directly heated triodes were used in both push pull and
single ended amps to drive the speakers in the big theaters. Western Electric was one of the most famous
manufacturers of these amps and to this day, the WE 300B is one of the most popular triodes out there and is
still being made almost 70 years after it's introduction.
Hi-fi really started just before WW2, with companies like Zenith and E.H. Scott, but component hi-fi did not
really take off till around 1947. People like Avery Fisher and Hermon Hosmer Scott really got the general populace
into the swing of things. With the advent of FM broadcasts and the new 33 1/3 rpm LP record, realistic sounding
home audio was here to stay. Where the technogeeks of today are into computers, back then it was radio and
hi-fi. If you were into electronics or were an electrical engineer, no better job could be had then what was found
in the growing hi-fi industry. Such industry leaders as Bill Grommes, Saul Marantz, Avery Fisher and Hermon Hosmer Scott
set the standards for home and commercial audio that would shape the industry for many years.
In the 50's the big thing was to get real close to a flat response in the critical human hearing range of 20hz to 15Khz.
There were many trick circuits and the like, but there was no substitute for solid electronic engineering coupled to
quality parts. These engineers were sharp, had good ears, and built equipment that was of very high quality and will
hold it's own when compared to anything made today. The simple fact that a lot of it is still working some
40 to 50 years after it was built is a testament to it's quality. I have 23 systems ranging from 1947 to 1965
set up at present. All work quite well.
Innovations were many during this period. As stated, the first was the true hi-fi amplifier. These amplifiers
were novel in that not only did they have bass, but they had extended highs to points beyond normal human hearing.
This was unheard of and initially met with some resistance because people were not used to hearing a hi-fi
reproduce frequencies much above 5khz. The initial reactions were mixed. Some people loved it. Others
said hi-fi sounded too scratchy and harsh. Well, enter both FM and the all new 33 1/3 rpm lp. Both had
a much reduced noise level and also had extended high frequencies. Where a 78 record or AM tuner
sounded scratchy above around 4khz, the modern Lp and FM sounded fine as high as 10Khz! This
offered the hi-fi enthusiast the chance to bring truly realistic sounding music into the house. In the mid 50's
another really revolutionary concept was being explored. Binaural hi-fi reproduction! Or, as we know it today,
Stereo. This was an amazing concept for the time. Stereo was to hi-fi what color was to television.
Mono hi-fi was still to be king until the late 50's. But by 1959, every hi-fi manufacturer made at least
one stereo setup. Because stereo necessitated doubling everything, the late 50's saw a trend toward
smaller components and integrated components. Also, small 'book shelf' speakers were becoming popular.
Companies like AR, RJ, and KLH produced small acoustic suspension speakers to replace the behemoths
like Altec Voice of the Theater, EV Patrician, and the big Klipsch horn loaded speakers that were the
cat's meow in the heyday of 50's mono hi-fi. At the beginning of the new decade, we saw the space race,
a young Irish Catholic from Massachusetts become president and the creation of a new item on the market.
The true FM stereo tuner. Although there were stereo receivers and tuners prior to the 60's, they were
actually AM/FM stereo. By this I mean, simulcast stereo where the one channel is AM and the
other is FM. The Scott 399 is an example of such a receiver. The Scott 330 series of tuners are also set
up to receiver simulcasts. But, around 1960, true stereo FM stations began to broadcast true stereo to
the lucky few who owned a stereo FM Mpx tuner or receiver and who were lucky enough to live
close enough to one of these new stations to pick up these broadcasts. By 1962, most all companies offered
true FM Mpx stereo tuners and receivers. Also, many companies marketed multiplex adapters for existing
mono tuners. Stereo was here to stay! The Fisher 500C and the Scott 340 became very popular hi-fi
components and are still among the most popular receivers being restored today. I own a 500C, 800C, a
340B, 380, and a 399. I can attest to the fact that these receivers are very fine instruments and
well worth the price of admission. In the early 60's, any one of these would set you back around $450.00.
That was about 1/4th the cost of a new full sized Chevy, Dodge, or Ford! We are talking around
$5,000 in today's dollars. That's quite a chunk of change for a stereo receiver. But, after 40 years,
many of these units are still working and have only needed minor repairs over their life time. You
will not find that kind of durability in modern solid state hi-fi.
Well, as the 60's went on, a new innovation began showing up. Transistor hi-fi! Wow, no more tubes to
replace. It runs cool and pulls about 1/3rd the power from the wall socket. The problem? it just did not sound
as good. Yes, it required no maintenance, but the sound left many flat. As the decade closed, there were
virtually no mainstream hi-fi manufacturers producing tube audio. Another wrinkle was competition from over seas.
Japan, at the time known for producing cheap junk, had quickly realized that the American market was not going
to tolerate junk. It did not take companies like Matsushita (Panasonic) and Pioneer long to realize that they had to
produce better quality stuff while still maintaining a price advantage if they were to hope to break into the
lucrative American hi-fi market. Although companies like Sansui made some nice tube hi-fi gear, it was the
solid state hi-fi gear that would plant these Japanese names firmly into our American vocabularies.
But, not to be out done. The Marantz corporation started producing solid state hi-fi with a difference. The difference
was that it actually sounded good. Marantz took the 70's by storm. But they too succumbed to Japanese competition,
and although the designs are from Saul Marantz and the American engineers of Marantz, many 70's vintage
receivers were actually built in Japan. But they were built to Marantz specifications. Thus, those 40 - 70 lb
dark faced, blue back lit beauties we all grew to love and drool over in the hi-fi shops of the 70's
were among some of the finest hi-fi components ever made. . To me, real hi-fi ended with
the Marantz receivers and amps of the 70's. This marked the last of an era of high quality consumer electronics.
The tube audio of the late 40's through the 60's and some of the solid state components of the 60's through the
70's marked an and to an era where made in America really meant something. But, there is hope! Companies
like Cary, Sonic Frontiers, Conrad Johnson and Dyna are still producing fine hi-fi products again.
Vacuum tubes and discreet transistor equipment are seeing a resurgence in consumer interest. Many are
sick of the black plastic junk found in most strip mall hi-fi stores and are spending the extra cash to purchase
real hi-fi components. Along with this is a growth in the industry of vintage hi-fi restoration and sales.
Vintage hifi gear may be between 30 and 50 years old, but it is still of sound design and with proper
restoration work can be made to sound as good as when it was new. In fact, in some cases it can be made to sound
better. So, I hope this page can give you some idea of where hi-fi came from, it's evolution and why it
is going back to it's roots again. Just because a concept or thing is old does not necessarily make it bad. In fact,
with respect to hi-fi, quite the contrary is true.