Tubes in car audio - the newest thing? :-)

[snorky]

Hey all,

In some of the threads about 9V powered tubes, there was some discussion of old Cadillacs with tubes in the radio.  I don't know if this has been posted yet, but it's kind of funny: Panasonic Vaccum Tube Car Receiver

- Mark

[beans_amps]

Quote from Panasonic "Panasonic B-flat Tube CQ-TX5500D is the world's first car receiver with a built-in vacuum tube "

What was in the radio of may dad's 61 Plymouth?

Also the built FM tuner tunes from 76,0 Mhz to 89.9Mhz.  Doesn't that band seem a bit narrow?

Sean Weatherford

[Ed G.]

Mr. BK Butler of Tube Driver and Blue Tube fame now makes car audio amplifiers that use tubes in the signal path.

[Torchy]

crp

[Mark Hammer]

Yep.  There is no better environment for appreciating the fine, fine quality of tube audio than a listening area 1/4 the volume of your bathroom, with poorly placed speakers, in the middle of traffic, with your kids nattering away, the sound of your tires on "roads-in-progress", the blissful drone of someone else's 15" subwoofer that they themselves can't hear, the gentle murmur of city buses with factory-reject mufflers and cost-cutting extended intervals between maintenance checkups, and the gentle purring of a 4-cylinder engine that has needed an oil-change and tuneup longer than your kids have been alive.  It's like...... like an audio bubble bath.  You just close your eyes, put on your f***ing Enya and just drift away to that lush top end. :lol:

I'll bet it sounds great in the showroom though.

[Johan]

my first car, a -65 Volvo Amazon ( P121 for you americans ) had an all tube Blaupunkt radio.....nothing new there...

Johan

[Torchy]

crp

[STOMPmole]

Maybe you haven't seen this either:

http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/ax4getube-g.htm

[Mark Hammer]

Uh-huh.  That's just exactly what every overclocker wants and needs - more heat.

[puretube]

the first car-radios where all-tube ("pure tube"!) radios...
they had mechanical choppers plus step-up transformers in there,
to obtain "real" high voltage!

[MartyB]

Surely not an original thought, but I wonder if these old units could be used as preamps or smaller tube amps..

[slajeune]

Actually,

the sopht amp is a small all tube amp using old car radio tubes that run on 12v!  Here is the link: http://www.sopht.ca/

Cheers,
Stephane.

[smashinator]

Maybe you haven't seen this either:

http://english.aopen.com.tw/products/mb/ax4getube-g.htm

That's just silly.

I'm planning to build the 12AL8 version of the sopht amp, probably after xmas.  It's really hard waiting, but I have other projects that need to be done before xmas.  

[slajeune]

I would wait a bit on building a Sopht amp.  I am playing with the designs and I am finding a lot of interesting things.  I'm still playing with the 12K5 this should be done shortly.  I'll tackle the 12AL8 during the christmas season.

Cheers,
Stephane.

[smashinator]

I would wait a bit on building a Sopht amp.  I am playing with the designs and I am finding a lot of interesting things.  I'm still playing with the 12K5 this should be done shortly.  I'll tackle the 12AL8 during the christmas season.

Cheers,
Stephane.

Well, it's definitely waiting until January.  Possibly longer, if I do the Real McTube first.  

Have you been experimenting with the 24 volt tubes at all?  No pressure, I'm just curious.

[slajeune]

Hi smashinator,

no, I haven't played with the 24v yet.  Still on the plate.  I am still trying to understand all the theory behind tubes.  That's the nice thing about low voltage stuff, you aren't affraid to experiment and understand the theory behind a lot of things.

Having said that, the 12v version of the 12k5 pretty loud for 12v tubes.  I should be able to post a sound clip tomorrow on the latest version of this simple amp.  I just need to change a few things on the breadboard and record something.

Thanks,
Stephane.

[Satch12879]

Yep.  There is no better environment for appreciating the fine, fine quality of tube audio than a listening area 1/4 the volume of your bathroom, with poorly placed speakers, in the middle of traffic, with your kids nattering away, the sound of your tires on "roads-in-progress", the blissful drone of someone else's 15" subwoofer that they themselves can't hear, the gentle murmur of city buses with factory-reject mufflers and cost-cutting extended intervals between maintenance checkups, and the gentle purring of a 4-cylinder engine that has needed an oil-change and tuneup longer than your kids have been alive.  It's like...... like an audio bubble bath.  You just close your eyes, put on your f***ing Enya and just drift away to that lush top end. :lol:

I'll bet it sounds great in the showroom though.

Normally I'd say what would big car stereo guidos know about good sound anyway...

However, many studio engineers will say that a car is one of the best places to listen to a mix because of the interior materials and multitude of non-parallel surfaces.  If it passes the car test then you know you're on your way to a great sounding record.

[puretube]

tnx to Peter Snowberg for this link:
http://www.duntemann.com/12vtubes/12vtubesindex.htm