Tubes were ubiquitous in the early generations of electronic devices, such as radios, televisions, and early computers such as the Colossus which used 2000 tubes, the ENIAC which used nearly 18,000 tubes, and the IBM 700 series.
Vacuum tubes are less susceptible to the electromagnetic pulse effect
of nuclear explosions. This property kept them in use for certain military applications long after transistors had replaced them elsewhere. Vacuum tubes are still used for very high-powered applications such as microwave ovens, industrial radio-frequency heating, and power amplification for broadcasting. Many audiophiles, professional audio engineers, and musicians prefer the characteristics of audio equipment based on vacuum tubes over electronics based on transistors. Because this tube sound is so sought after there are many companies which still make specialized audio hardware featuring tube technology. Tubes are still being manufactured today in China (Shuguang), Russia (Reflector Corp. and Svetlana Electron Devices), USA (Westrex Inc.) and Slovakia (JJ-Electronic).
The characteristic s
ound produced by a tube based amplifier with the tubes overloaded (overdriven) is widely used in electric guitar amplification, and has defined the texture of some genres of music, such as classic rock and blues. Guitarists often prefer tube amplifiers for the perceived warmth of their tone and the natural compression effect they can apply to an input signal.
In 2002, computer motherboard maker AOpen brought back the vacuum tube for modern computer use by releasing the AX4GE Tube-G motherboard. This motherboard uses a Sovtek 6922 vacuum tube as part of AOpen’s TubeSound Technology. AOpen claims that the vacuum tube brings superior sound.
Information from Wikipedia.
Vacuum tubes are less susceptible to the electromagnetic pulse effect
of nuclear explosions. This property kept them in use for certain military applications long after transistors had replaced them elsewhere. Vacuum tubes are still used for very high-powered applications such as microwave ovens, industrial radio-frequency heating, and power amplification for broadcasting. Many audiophiles, professional audio engineers, and musicians prefer the characteristics of audio equipment based on vacuum tubes over electronics based on transistors. Because this tube sound is so sought after there are many companies which still make specialized audio hardware featuring tube technology. Tubes are still being manufactured today in China (Shuguang), Russia (Reflector Corp. and Svetlana Electron Devices), USA (Westrex Inc.) and Slovakia (JJ-Electronic).The characteristic s
ound produced by a tube based amplifier with the tubes overloaded (overdriven) is widely used in electric guitar amplification, and has defined the texture of some genres of music, such as classic rock and blues. Guitarists often prefer tube amplifiers for the perceived warmth of their tone and the natural compression effect they can apply to an input signal.In 2002, computer motherboard maker AOpen brought back the vacuum tube for modern computer use by releasing the AX4GE Tube-G motherboard. This motherboard uses a Sovtek 6922 vacuum tube as part of AOpen’s TubeSound Technology. AOpen claims that the vacuum tube brings superior sound.
Information from Wikipedia.
