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Techtube valves/tubes

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Hi. I'm new to this group so hello everyone. I have some first hand information about the new TechTube tube as I have been helping with its development and Andy Blades of Blackburn Micro Tech has given me permission to talk about it.

I have been using some pre production E813CC double triodes in the line stage and phono stages of one of the amps I manufacture. I can say without doubt that these tubes really do work and very well so if anyone has any questions I'll try and answer them although I can't go into the deep technical stuff about the devices themselves.
 
Hi, Geoff, and welcome. There's been some discussion of these tubes already. The prices are extremely high, especially over here in the US, so I'm approaching it with caution and some skepticism. That disclaimer aside, have you run noise or distortion spectra? That's the kind of data that people need to see to make design and purchase decisions and the factory hasn't seemed to have gotten around to it yet. If you've done any of that stuff, it would be great if you could post it. Good ECC83 run properly have stunningly low distortion, so any redesign of the tube has a high bar set for it.

If you would be so kind as to have a word with them, at these prices, I'd like to see some actual data (with test method clearly spelled out) substantiating the claimed improved lifetime.

And while I'm in a complaining mode, PowerPoint is a terrible way to generate datasheets. "Power corrupts, PowerPoint corrupts absolutely."

My complaints aside, I really do hope Blackburn can make a go at this. The more choices that tube users have, the better the quality and pricing they will get.
 
geoff4valves said:
Hi. I'm new to this group so hello everyone. I have some first hand information about the new TechTube tube as I have been helping with its development and Andy Blades of Blackburn Micro Tech has given me permission to talk about it.

I have been using some pre production E813CC double triodes in the line stage and phono stages of one of the amps I manufacture. I can say without doubt that these tubes really do work and very well so if anyone has any questions I'll try and answer them although I can't go into the deep technical stuff about the devices themselves.

Hi Geoff, welcome!
I saw your Proteus Diamond description; nice work, nice design, nice description!

Congratulations! :smash:
 
Thank you.

Thanks for the warm welcome, I'm still trying to find my way around so please forgive any mistakes.

Thanks for the comment on Diamond, it's been four years in development, many sleepless nights and cut fingers, stainless is terrible stuff to work with.

Re the TechTube valve lifetime claim, the only thing I can say is that Blackburn are probably the world leaders in cathode design and have years of experience on which to base any claims. I do know they have done exhaustive tests on the valve and i have no reason the doubt it. Their research facility is stunning. By the way, just in case anyone thought I must have shares or a vested interest I promise I haven't it's just that I'm rather passionate valves and what can be done with them. I'll have a word with the research team and see if I can get some more precise info to post. I can say that the valve, at the very least, sounds better than the original Mullard white label UK made ones which I use to use in Diamond. A back to back comparison shows the new valve to be much faster because of the much lower internal capacitance and it's also nice and stable.
 
Re: Thank you.

geoff4valves said:
I can say that the valve, at the very least, sounds better than the original Mullard white label UK made ones which I use to use in Diamond.


Geoff,
It comes to no suprise I'm finding quite a few recently made signal tubes behave better than their 50 yr old NOS counterparts for a fraction of the cost.
Gleaning at some power tube threads on this forum, it seems the reversal sometimes takes place, that is recently made power tubes often behave worse than NOS. The KT77 reintroduced is one example of a falling into the unreliable category.
The New edit TungSol 6550 will accept a direct hit and keep running.
One takes one's pick.

richj
 
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I'm curious too, the London show has come and gone, and still no news. I suspect based on the current economic situation that this is not a good time to introduce a product such as this.. Unless they had their production financing nailed down in advance I would be concerned that they might not be now be able to secure the required financing..

Minor site update is here: http://www.techtubevalves.com/index.php

The show itself: http://www.chestergroup.org/index.php?option=com_shows&task=detail&Itemid=31&id=8

I have found no mention of Tech Tubes anywhere online so far.
 
I emailed them asking about their plans; they are going to build replacements for popular power tubes as well, like EL84, EL34, etc...

My suggestion was to use their planar structure, but to sandwich the anode with beryllium ceramic and a TO-3 style flange. It would be nice! Looks like the person who deals with e-mail don't understand technical details...
 
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