watchnerd
Grand Contributor
I just read the following (seemingly ridiculous statement) from Herb Reichert. This can't possibly be true, can it?
"The most important thing you can do with a thermionic valve is to hold it in your hand and study it with your eyes. More than you might think, what you see is what you get. High-energy electrons are boiled off the heater or cathode, pass through the wire control grid, and collide forcefully with that big black, gray, or silver thing—the anode, or "plate"—that occupies most of the space inside the bottle. What that anode structure looks like is probably what your midrange will sound like—ie, if the anode looks smooth and big and richly textured, those same qualities are likely to apply to the sound of the midrange. Study the texture, shape, and color of any tube's anode, then use it play to some Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald: You might be surprised to discover the usefulness of this maxim!"
Source: https://www.stereophile.com/content...ed-amplifier-tube-rolling#vFwqEzic1UzwV7Go.99
"The most important thing you can do with a thermionic valve is to hold it in your hand and study it with your eyes. More than you might think, what you see is what you get. High-energy electrons are boiled off the heater or cathode, pass through the wire control grid, and collide forcefully with that big black, gray, or silver thing—the anode, or "plate"—that occupies most of the space inside the bottle. What that anode structure looks like is probably what your midrange will sound like—ie, if the anode looks smooth and big and richly textured, those same qualities are likely to apply to the sound of the midrange. Study the texture, shape, and color of any tube's anode, then use it play to some Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald: You might be surprised to discover the usefulness of this maxim!"
Source: https://www.stereophile.com/content...ed-amplifier-tube-rolling#vFwqEzic1UzwV7Go.99