• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Older Amplifiers Better?

well -- it is a bit of a strawman :rolleyes: but this is usually about the time that I like to point out that RCA introduced the direct-heated 2A3 power triode for audio amplifier use in 1933 per Eric Barbour*. That was 92 years ago. As far as I can tell, the 2A3 has been in continuous production, somewhere, by somebody, ever since. It's a pretty future proof piece of hardware. :cool: They last a good, long time, too when treated properly.

In all seriousness, the weirdness of the above is hard to overstate. Many tubes have enjoyed long lifetimes because they are good for something -- vacuum tube musical instrument amplifiers, Soviet (or Russian) avionics... something. The 2A3 has a pretty limited bag of tricks. For "high powered" radio AF amplifiers, it was rather rapidly supplanted by much more practical alternatives like - ahem - the 6L6 (pentodes, push-pull, and feedback FTW, as they say).
The only "use" for 2A3 tubes seems to be low powered, barely practical "hifi" audio amplifiers -- a decidedly niche market**. Yet the 2A3 is a survivor. :)

____________________
* https://www.worldradiohistory.com/A...m-Tube-Valley/Vacuum-Tube-Valley-Issue-12.pdf
** I have one such amplifier. OK, technically, two. Actually three, in that "one" of my single-ended 2A3 amps in the form of monoblocks. :rolleyes: Dollar for dollar, SE 2A3 amplifiers are hard to beat when it comes to actually listening to music through them. :cool:


two US made 2A3 from the 1940s that I bought, used, for $20 each about 24 years ago.


two Chinese-made "meshplate" ;) (kinda, sorta) 2A3 that came with this amp when I bought it ca. 20 years ago

DSC_0858(2) by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
two nice, nearly new Slovak-made 2A3 kindly passed along to me recently by a hifi fellow traveler.

All six of the above 2A3 power triodes are alive, well, and ready to boogie at a moment's notice. :) The JJs have been installed for a couple of months now, though -- not in a big hurry to swap in any of the others. :p
I need a tube vendor for my home intercom system (Home & intercom system built in 1964) and the 1954 (?) Phillips (Europe) radio that moved in when we did, in 1965. (I was 8, then).
 
Well, the economy was rather rough when the Cord 810 came along. ;)
Tucker had some other extenuating circumstances ;)

I could've gone with a reasonable definition of an average car and pictured a 1933 Ford or Chevy. I went exotic because, in her* own sweet, inimitable way, the 2A3 was exotic and ultimately impractical, too.
No current production Cords (AFAIK) but I can buy a new pair of 2A3s today and have 'em in my hands in a couple-three days.
________________
* "She" because the 2A3 was the Queen of Triodes. :)
Yes Cords where to far ahead of their time both in features and styling. Kind of a Cyber Truck of the day.
 
Yes Cords where to far ahead of their time both in features and styling. Kind of a Cyber Truck of the day.
[emphasis added]
That is very apt and totally wrong, all at once! ;)
I think Elon Musk is more a chip off the old Preston Tucker block, though. :rolleyes: :cool:
 
Yes Cords where to far ahead of their time both in features and styling. Kind of a Cyber Truck of the day.
Cords look great (don't know about comfort, handling, etc but would very much like to drive one).
Cyber Trucks don't (at least not least to me). (Don't know about the same things but nor do I want to).
So, there is that.
I'd drive one of these, though:

model

Model
3LZ AWD
From: $119,545

Electrified All-Wheel Drive

8-speed dual clutch transmission


Standard
6.2L V8 DI engine
 
Those pics remind me of a tube headphone amp I owned many years ago, the Wheatfield Audio HA-2 by Pete Millett. It was intended to drive high impedance cans like the HD-600 so it had no output transformer.

1738004929491.png


When people use these amps, it's like driving a classic vintage car. You don't do it because it's the fastest, nor quietest, etc. You do it because it's a fun project to build, restore and maintain, and to preserve a fascinating piece of history with "character". That's different from more "modern" vintage solid state amps that may be over 40 years old. Some of that gear was so well engineered for its time that its performance still compares with modern equipment. It can be easier to service & repair than modern gear, and may still be practical if parts are still available.
 
Because of the extreme speakers I had in the 80's I tried countless amps, looking for the optimum. The claim "all amps sound the same" makes me just shake my head. The usual consumer class amps sounded just not good, you had to invest very serious money to get a really nice one, or build something your self. Something modern, like the better Ayiyma, Topping, Fosi or the like would have been absolute high end.

I still have some of my old amps and somehow regret how devalued they are from a sound perspective, compared to todays cheap and not so cheap Class D stuff. Even if they sound on par, the size and wheight is ridiculous high.
I love vintage stuff, but you got to see it's performance in a context, not through pink tainted glasses.
 
Because of the extreme speakers I had in the 80's I tried countless amps, looking for the optimum. The claim "all amps sound the same" makes me just shake my head. The usual consumer class amps sounded just not good, you had to invest very serious money to get a really nice one, or build something your self. Something modern, like the better Ayiyma, Topping, Fosi or the like would have been absolute high end.

I still have some of my old amps and somehow regret how devalued they are from a sound perspective, compared to todays cheap and not so cheap Class D stuff. Even if they sound on par, the size and wheight is ridiculous high.
I love vintage stuff, but you got to see it's performance in a context, not through pink tainted glasses.
At a SINAD of 95, I am happy with my mid 1980's 6 NAD 2200's in my various configurations.
 
...
Model
3LZ AWD
From: $119,545

Electrified All-Wheel Drive

8-speed dual clutch transmission


Standard
6.2L V8 DI engine
Kind of weird to stick some electrical traction there that only goes 3-4 miles...?
 
Kind of weird to stick some electrical traction there that only goes 3-4 miles...?
Kinda' weird to compare a Cyber Truck to a Cord.
Based on that logic (if any):
Just thought that I would continue.
Randomly. (or perhaps Chaotically).
 
I never made such a comparison...? Was just wondering about the reason for that minimalist electrical engine, that's all.
Well, the Cord did not have any electrical engine. Maybe I thought there should be a transition.
(Actually I think that the shape of the Cyber Truck is awful and like the shape of the Cord & the Corvette)
(I had ZERO thoughts about electricity in regard to the cars)
How the transportation operates is not a thought that I have about transportation until it is not operating for me.
Then it comes down to "what is needed to make it go again". A horse has different needs than an ICE powered car which has different needs that a hybrid car (similar, but different) and an electric car has different needs than the others.
All I care about is what do I need to do to get it going again.
 
Older amp.
It amplifies
With no noise or distortion
It looks cool
Friends will say 'On yeah!' and get you to put on some rubbish music really loud.



Modern amp
It amplifies
With no noise or distortion
It looks like something you might keep your biscuits in
It's no fun

 
Kinda' weird to compare a Cyber Truck to a Cord.
Based on that logic (if any):
Just thought that I would continue.
Randomly. (or perhaps Chaotically).
The Cord in its day, was viewed as Buck Rodgers space aged, too modern. Ford, Olds, Chevy looked like a horse should have been in front of them. The objections to the Cyber Truck are somewhat the same not much being said about it's power plant and a lot about styling.
 
Back
Top Bottom