I met and talked with Charles Whitener about 20 years ago.
He was a pleasure to talk to.
He had purchased the original WE Lode of Tungsten Alloy for the filaments,
And the manufacturing plans (hundreds of steps) for the 300B (and other tube manufacturing plans too), and the rights to use the Western Electric's name for those tube types.
He also got the original tooling machines, and had some of the original workers too.
The difficulty of manufacturing real 100% original WE tubes is much more complicated
than you can ever imagine.
What a headache.
Vendors who quit making specific materials, retired workers, etc., etc.
Find a new worker, find a new vendor, then qualify a complete new [pre] production run, . . .
How many of you have ever worked in a technical product manufacturing facility for several years, and seen what happens?
Just sayin'
He was a pleasure to talk to.
He had purchased the original WE Lode of Tungsten Alloy for the filaments,
And the manufacturing plans (hundreds of steps) for the 300B (and other tube manufacturing plans too), and the rights to use the Western Electric's name for those tube types.
He also got the original tooling machines, and had some of the original workers too.
The difficulty of manufacturing real 100% original WE tubes is much more complicated
than you can ever imagine.
What a headache.
Vendors who quit making specific materials, retired workers, etc., etc.
Find a new worker, find a new vendor, then qualify a complete new [pre] production run, . . .
How many of you have ever worked in a technical product manufacturing facility for several years, and seen what happens?
Just sayin'
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Then kudos to Elrog with their nice line up of tubes, not just their 300B.
I visited their plant and was impressed by their innovative way of thinking, using old production gear at the same time...
I visited their plant and was impressed by their innovative way of thinking, using old production gear at the same time...
Tube manufacturing is about process steps, materials and a lot of chemistry.
Much has changed since the old days and even WE tubes from different decades sound different.
Much has changed since the old days and even WE tubes from different decades sound different.
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The 91A rolls off very early. The last one I measured had very noticeable roll-off starting around 8kHz. This was not a problem when the 91A was designed. This is a problem now.
That makes sense.
It's all about driver performance (headroom!) to make a 300B amp shine.
Transformer quality also matters of course.
It's all about driver performance (headroom!) to make a 300B amp shine.
Transformer quality also matters of course.
TG,
Thanks for the enlightenment!
They probably did not account for the average theatre attendance either.
People change the hall acoustics.
Thanks for the enlightenment!
They probably did not account for the average theatre attendance either.
People change the hall acoustics.
The midrange is what matters in music.
Those who hear a 71A output trannie or a 618 input trannie doesn't question any longer for more highs. Those transformers shine in the midrange and there they can deliver a quality rarely heard. Thats why they are legends, not because the may have some shortcomings in the frequency range just below 20 Kcs. Its practical irrelevant for the quality of an audio amp.
You can have transformers that measure perfect well beyound 20 Kcs and still sound sterile and nasty. The knowledge to build a transformer with extraordinary qualities doesn't lie in the theoretical books alone. Much more understanding is necessary. Thats the real truth why so many just manage to build only mediocre and boring sounding transformers.
Those who hear a 71A output trannie or a 618 input trannie doesn't question any longer for more highs. Those transformers shine in the midrange and there they can deliver a quality rarely heard. Thats why they are legends, not because the may have some shortcomings in the frequency range just below 20 Kcs. Its practical irrelevant for the quality of an audio amp.
You can have transformers that measure perfect well beyound 20 Kcs and still sound sterile and nasty. The knowledge to build a transformer with extraordinary qualities doesn't lie in the theoretical books alone. Much more understanding is necessary. Thats the real truth why so many just manage to build only mediocre and boring sounding transformers.
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Interesting.
Can you tell us more about the "why so many just manage to build only mediocre and boring sounding transformers"?
Can you tell us more about the "why so many just manage to build only mediocre and boring sounding transformers"?
Experiences and listening in audio is highly individual as every experience in life is.
Some things in life are not being delegatable. You have to make the experience for yourself.
Maybe you come to other conclusions. Fine for you, bad for someone who loves the tone and timbre of a70 year old transformer.
Some things in life are not being delegatable. You have to make the experience for yourself.
Maybe you come to other conclusions. Fine for you, bad for someone who loves the tone and timbre of a70 year old transformer.
An hours spent in front of a great live concert . . .
Is worth 5 Hours in front of an average stereo system.
Is worth 5 Hours in front of an average stereo system.
To be honest, I just see it the complete different way when it comes to electronic amplified music nowadays.
What do you get for a pricey bill and a view to live characters singing and acting?
Mostly you will hear PA trsnsistorized sound with a level that greatly damages the human ear. My last concert was approx one year ago. Never ever will I audition such a band.
All was amplified with a big PA system and they played in an old theater in Berlin.
The sound could not have been more worse and loud wasn't loud enough for the young sound engineer. I auditioned it with earplugs but they helped not much. Many weeks after the concert my ears had to rest without any noise. It was all too loud.
Now, one year behind me, I think and hope my hearing has recovered. Humans are not all the same when it comes to the ability to recover from much too loud exposure of music.
Some will tolerate it better then others. Never in this life I will audition such a band live. And I speak about singer/ songwriter, not a heavy metal band. No one could have known such a bad sounding equipment, but most of the audience fell in love with it, it seemed.
For me, to hear at home is a much much better experience. Maybe live records, they often sound better. Its so much more in the music heard with an excellent audio system.
Maybe in the 60s the sound was better as with modern PA, when they had all tube equipment, the legend of Altec/ JBL sound. But today, I hardly can imagine a more shitty sound than todays high powered PA units.
If its not the same for everyone, either they audition and search for better live bands with much improved eqipment in sound or their home audio system should improve a lot to have a better sound at home.
What do you get for a pricey bill and a view to live characters singing and acting?
Mostly you will hear PA trsnsistorized sound with a level that greatly damages the human ear. My last concert was approx one year ago. Never ever will I audition such a band.
All was amplified with a big PA system and they played in an old theater in Berlin.
The sound could not have been more worse and loud wasn't loud enough for the young sound engineer. I auditioned it with earplugs but they helped not much. Many weeks after the concert my ears had to rest without any noise. It was all too loud.
Now, one year behind me, I think and hope my hearing has recovered. Humans are not all the same when it comes to the ability to recover from much too loud exposure of music.
Some will tolerate it better then others. Never in this life I will audition such a band live. And I speak about singer/ songwriter, not a heavy metal band. No one could have known such a bad sounding equipment, but most of the audience fell in love with it, it seemed.
For me, to hear at home is a much much better experience. Maybe live records, they often sound better. Its so much more in the music heard with an excellent audio system.
Maybe in the 60s the sound was better as with modern PA, when they had all tube equipment, the legend of Altec/ JBL sound. But today, I hardly can imagine a more shitty sound than todays high powered PA units.
If its not the same for everyone, either they audition and search for better live bands with much improved eqipment in sound or their home audio system should improve a lot to have a better sound at home.
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