I am continually amazed at the number of tube-aholics who have been selected by cats as servant - providers. However, despite my best efforts, I have failed to arrive at a satisfactory hypothesis to explain why this should be so. 
My efforts to date:
Hypothesis 1 : Tube amps are warm - cats are attracted to warmth and in winter will bask in front of a heater to the brink of self-immolation if provided with the opportunity.
Unfortunately, this hypothesis can be easily rejected on a least two grounds: 1 large class A solid state behemoths are equally (if not more) capable of radiating vast amounts of heat; and 2 in tropical / subtropical climes where the human adoption ratio appears to be equally high, cats assiduously avoid heat, preferring to lie prostrate in a stretched pose (see avatar) which exposes the maximum amount of surface area to radiate heat.
Hypothesis 2: cats are very observant creatures, and know from watching our chassis fabrication activities that tube amp builders possess at least rudimentary skills in metalwork. This renders us likely to be skilled in the use of a can opener, and also highly likely to be able to open a can in the calamitous event that the opener gets lost.
However, this hypothesis can be challenged on the grounds that cans now have ring pull tops, and that the adaptation no longer confers an selective advantage.
Is there anyone out there with a fitting explanation ?
My efforts to date:
Hypothesis 1 : Tube amps are warm - cats are attracted to warmth and in winter will bask in front of a heater to the brink of self-immolation if provided with the opportunity.
Unfortunately, this hypothesis can be easily rejected on a least two grounds: 1 large class A solid state behemoths are equally (if not more) capable of radiating vast amounts of heat; and 2 in tropical / subtropical climes where the human adoption ratio appears to be equally high, cats assiduously avoid heat, preferring to lie prostrate in a stretched pose (see avatar) which exposes the maximum amount of surface area to radiate heat.
Hypothesis 2: cats are very observant creatures, and know from watching our chassis fabrication activities that tube amp builders possess at least rudimentary skills in metalwork. This renders us likely to be skilled in the use of a can opener, and also highly likely to be able to open a can in the calamitous event that the opener gets lost.
However, this hypothesis can be challenged on the grounds that cans now have ring pull tops, and that the adaptation no longer confers an selective advantage.
Is there anyone out there with a fitting explanation ?
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Cats prefer quiet.
Since our amps are constantly being upgraded, modified, changed, butchered, developed or (as is my case) spend so much time as "virtual" amps or vapourware, cats find tube-o-philes far more agreeable providers of nutrition and shelter.
Since our amps are constantly being upgraded, modified, changed, butchered, developed or (as is my case) spend so much time as "virtual" amps or vapourware, cats find tube-o-philes far more agreeable providers of nutrition and shelter.
aardvarkash10,
There is a simple solution to this problem.
Build more than one amp.
A mother cat and her three kittens just moved into my shed out back.
There is a simple solution to this problem.
Build more than one amp.
A mother cat and her three kittens just moved into my shed out back.
I dunno... I thought the cats just like me because I keep feeding them.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i43/Ty_Bower/Simple SE/P1100397.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i43/Ty_Bower/Simple SE/P1100379.jpg
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i43/Ty_Bower/Simple SE/P1100397.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i43/Ty_Bower/Simple SE/P1100379.jpg
I'm a cat lover and a tube amp owner!
But am without a single cat! 🙁
So far the only animals that have visited me are 1 Carpet Python and 1 Tiger Snake 😱...not happy, I wants cats!
Ty, I love that fur-ball in those pics, so pretty 😀
But am without a single cat! 🙁
So far the only animals that have visited me are 1 Carpet Python and 1 Tiger Snake 😱...not happy, I wants cats!
Ty, I love that fur-ball in those pics, so pretty 😀
Hello All,
My wife sews, I solder. Our cats are patient and observant. The cats know that I will not be gone long when I leave to buy parts. If my passions were clubs and redheads I could be gone for days, they could be cold and hungry for a long time. A lady at work says that her cats defected; the neighbors were more easily trained. I think her cats were defective.
The short version is this: cats can tell, they can select semi-sedentary humans that do not wander too far off.
DT
All just for fun!
My wife sews, I solder. Our cats are patient and observant. The cats know that I will not be gone long when I leave to buy parts. If my passions were clubs and redheads I could be gone for days, they could be cold and hungry for a long time. A lady at work says that her cats defected; the neighbors were more easily trained. I think her cats were defective.
The short version is this: cats can tell, they can select semi-sedentary humans that do not wander too far off.
DT
All just for fun!
5 indoor/outdoor cats + 3 outdoor cats (we recently lost one that was >20 yrs old). Tube kit all over the place.
dave
dave
I taught her. 😀
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
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That's a very pretty cat. I have two cats, at various times recently both have sat on my lap while I mod my amp in the workshop, they are obviously curious to see where the leading edge of audio take them 😉
Haven't got any pics of them near amps yet though..
Attachments
I have two such identical amps, one as in previous post with the mains transformer mounted on shock mounts to avoid hum noise in chassis and the other one with tranny hard bolted to the chassis. That cat won't go anywhere near the amp with the mains transformer hard bolted to chassis. It obviously makes a minute noise that irritates.
richy
richy
I might be wrong (just a theory, no data to back it up 🙂) but I think smart persons are attracted to tube amplifiers and cats. I live alone (no cats) but I love them and feed regularly outdoor cats. They found me somehow and gathered outside of my listening place so I started observing them and it took me little time to realize how cool they were. So a love relationship started, one I hope will last for a very long time.
I've got 2 cats and no tube amps (though I recently got some parts for a 6EM7 SET that I'm gonna build at some point). One of the cats loves my computer chair, and will sit on the nearest speaker (PC is in the corner, stereo is along the adjacent wall), and just watch me, until I stand up and stroke her, at which point she jumps down, curls up on my chair and pretends to be asleep.
The other cat doesn't like being messed around, and takes no prisoners if he's annoyed. That said, if he's in the mood to be nice, he is really nice.
I suppose they're waiting for when I build that amp...
The other cat doesn't like being messed around, and takes no prisoners if he's annoyed. That said, if he's in the mood to be nice, he is really nice.
I suppose they're waiting for when I build that amp...
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