Something about using tubes on a cold winter night that warms you up literally a figuratively. Added:
Got an old Westinghouse Stereo combo, man, I love the sound it puts out, and the crackle of it warming up and the hum as everything comes on line! Replaced all the old paper speakers with really good marine ones, wow, what a sound!
Whether you like country or rock some of the best was and is made with the great TUBE amps made by Leo Fender and of course the guitars. Leo Fender - Wikipedia
If you are into tubes I am sure you have heard of RF Parts they have provided great service with fast shipping. Much of their stock is chinese or russian but fortunately they are still making tubes. Home page
As I’ve said before, I have fond memories of my dad’s home brew kilowatt amp, glowing in the night. Used to call them Rectifryer tubes
I used to be Chief Engineer @KRAB FM in Seattle, WA when it was on top of Roosevelt Hill... We had an Old Gates Three Cabinet Transmitter that did not have any actual Gates Parts in it, except the Power Supply... The exciter was a 10 Watt FM Solidstate Box that drove a single 4CX350F mid-Stage Ceramic Tube... That drove a Pair of 4CX10,000s in a Push-Pull configuration which produced 5000 Watts into a 4 Bay Gates Halo Antenna mounted on a 75’ wooden Telephone Pole Tower... The Finals were aged Pulls that we scored from KIRO TV as they replaced them due to aging.. Then we would use them until they FAILED, and then we would give them back to KIRO to be returned for rebuild.. It took that big of Tubes to get our measly 5Kw Licensed Output Power out these aged tubes, but boy did they put out the heat... It kept the whole building warn in the winters with no additional heat sources... The Transmitter Cabinet was built into the wall facing the street, and if we were working on it we had to open the back doors from out front of the Station, which was an Old DoughNut Shop, before the Radio Station moved in...
