A Call For Humor!

[jkasch]

 

[DavidMcRoy]

 

[mhardy6647]

I always wonder what heat those device must have created. Even today a server room needs a lot of cooling, and my tube amp (with 4x EL34 and 4x dual triodes) already has a sidejob as spaceheater. Imagine a whole room of tubes working hard like here...

Yes and no, I would think. The logic was handled by small-signal triodes (albeit operating in a very inefficient, nonlinear way*), but they, of course, required (relatively) high plate voltages and no mean amount of current to operate even under those conditions* so the HV power supplies for the computer itself would've been generating a lot of heat (again, I would think).

The computer triode tubes that evolved were robust variants of things like a 12AU7 (or 12AX7), and were (derp) manufactured in immense quantities. Some of us retain a smattering (or in some cases, a fecal load) of these tubes for hifi purposes. They were typically rated for lower plate voltages than their ancestor triodes, but I am told this was more a reflection of their (ahem) intended "use case"than their actual capabilities.
______________
* Jeepers -- this got me to thinkin' of the opportunity to operate vacuum tube digital logic with plate starved triodes. Get some of that good ol' fashioned analog crunch in the tone (of the output data)!

 

[DonR]

Yes and no, I would think. The logic was handled by small-signal triodes (albeit operating in a very inefficient, nonlinear way*), but they, of course, required (relatively) high plate voltages and no mean amount of current to operate even under those conditions* so the HV power supplies for the computer itself would've been generating a lot of heat (again, I would think).

The computer triode tubes that evolved were robust variants of things like a 12AU7 (or 12AX7), and were (derp) manufactured in immense quantities. Some of us retain a smattering (or in some cases, a fecal load) of these tubes for hifi purposes. They were typically rated for lower plate voltages than their ancestor triodes, but I am told this was more a reflection of their (ahem) intended "use case"than their actual capabilities.
______________
* Jeepers -- this got me to thinkin' of the opportunity to operate vacuum tube digital logic with plate starved triodes. Get some of that good ol' fashioned analog crunch in the tone (of the output data)!

Finally! A REAL tube DAC. None of this silicon rubbish.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Finally! A REAL tube DAC. None of this silicon rubbish.

Well, this joke is not really a joke, because such a design exists, and it is wonderful in many ways:

https://linearaudio.net/sites/linearaudio.net/files/03%20Didden%20LA%20V13%20mvdg.pdf

 

[DonR]

Well, this joke is not really a joke, because such a design exists, and it is wonderful in many ways:

https://linearaudio.net/sites/linearaudio.net/files/03%20Didden%20LA%20V13%20mvdg.pdf

The conclusion of the 70(!) page paper is simple and to the point....

14 Conclusion
Having demonstrated that it is quite possible to use valves for the actual digital to analogue conversion,
I don’t want to hear anyone call a solid-state DAC followed by a valve-based output buffer a
valve DAC anymore!

I do suppose that a USB interface might pose a few issues though.

 

[Ornette]

 

[Philbo King]

View attachment 283302

Not quite as prestigious a firm as Dewey, Squerum & Howe...

 

[Don Hills]

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. The law firm in the PC game "Leisure Suit Larry."

 

[mhardy6647]

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. The law firm in the PC game "Leisure Suit Larry."

I believe that prestigious law firm dates back to The Marx Brothers (or possibly The Three Stooges), and famously counted the Car Talk co-hosts (Click & Clack, the Tappet Bros.) amoung their clientele.

 

[jkasch]

I believe that prestigious law firm dates back to The Marx Brothers (or possibly The Three Stooges), and famously counted the Car Talk co-hosts (Click & Clack, the Tappet Bros.) amoung their clientele.

Yep

 

[Boris Badinov]

I believe that prestigious law firm dates back to The Marx Brothers (or possibly The Three Stooges), and famously counted the Car Talk co-hosts (Click & Clack, the Tappet Bros.) amoung their clientele.

I really loved the Tappet Brothers show, especially at the end when the staff and credits were announced

 

[Boris Badinov]

The dog and I first thing in the morning, wondering why we're up so early.
I actually have to leave a bit of coffee in the cup for her, she loves coffee.
(not my actual dog)

 

[Boris Badinov]

Since we're on the subject...

 

[Boris Badinov]

 

[Boris Badinov]

 

[mhardy6647]

I really loved the Tappet Brothers show, especially at the end when the staff and credits were announced

Among my personal favorites

Their chauffeur, Pickov Andropov
Their statistician, Marge Innovera

I also liked the members of the Payne-Diaz family:

Father Royal Payne-Diaz
Daughter Sasha Payne-Diaz

While checking spelling (my scholarly bent, you know?), I discovered that the family also had an adopted son from Sweden, Bjorn A. Payne-Diaz

Truth is stranger than fiction appendix: The actual, and very real, Good News Garage was located across the street from the admin building of the first (then quite small) biotech company I worked for in Cambridge, MA. I had my 1984 Chevy Cavalier repaired there one day after the water pump failed and my cooling system drained dry one (thankfully) cold and damp day as I drove in to Cambridge from our home in the deep suburbs of Harvard, MA (not to be confused with the college of the same name located in Cambridge, MA -- although named after the same guy). Our Purchasing Director's boyfriend was a mechanic at the Good News Garage, as it happened. No, it wasn't old Crusty.

EDIT: PS Sorry for those distressingly run-on sentences!

 

[Boris Badinov]

 

[Boris Badinov]

Among my personal favorites

Their chauffeur, Pickov Andropov
Their statistician, Marge Innovera

I also liked the members of the Payne-Diaz family:

Father Royal Payne-Diaz
Daughter Sasha Payne-Diaz

While checking spelling (my scholarly bent, you know?), I discovered that the family also had an adopted son from Sweden, Bjorn A. Payne-Diaz

Truth is stranger than fiction appendix: The actual, and very real, Good News Garage was located across the street from the admin building of the first (then quite small) biotech company I worked for in Cambridge, MA. I had my 1984 Chevy Cavalier repaired there one day after the water pump failed and my cooling system drained dry one (thankfully) cold and damp day as I drove in to Cambridge from our home in the deep suburbs of Harvard, MA (not to be confused with the college of the same name located in Cambridge, MA -- although named after the same guy). Our Purchasing Director's boyfriend was a mechanic at the Good News Garage, as it happened. No, it wasn't old Crusty.

EDIT: PS Sorry for those distressingly run-on sentences!

You forgot the book "Leo Tolstoi" by Warren Pease

 

[mhardy6647]

You forgot the book "Leo Tolstoi" by Warren Pease

Oh, I skipped over lots of 'em.