Western Electric 91E Integrated Stereo Amplifier Available for Pre-Order

audioXpress readers have long been anticipating the announcement, and Western Electric finally confirmed that the company is taking orders for the new 91E integrated amplifier. Following the resumed production of the 300B triode tubes at the modern Rossville Works facility, Western Electric now launches a single-ended (SE) high-fidelity amplifier inspired by the 91A, its famous predecessor used in early Hollywood motion pictures. The new SE design offers over 20 watts per channel - a first for the 300B in a totally new design for the 21st Century.

Our May 2021 Glass Audio Special edition is certain to inform and inspire you. We reveal what is happening at Western Electric's new Rossville Works in Georgia, where production of 300B tubes is ongoing, we explain how to draw tube load lines, and we offer a valuable preamplifier design that enables you to compare the sound of tube and solid-state circuits from the same audio source. There's also a versatile stereo tube amplifier design to build, and plenty more audio electronics theory and practice in this edition. Now available online and in print.

In this article, Bill Reeve explains how to drive tube heaters with a constant current to lengthen the life of your vacuum tubes. As he explains, obviously, the best way to extend your amplifier’s vacuum tube life is to never turn it on. Some would say that the second best thing you can do is to never turn it off. The third and fourth options may be to gently turn on the tube heaters and not leave the B+ voltage on when the heater voltages are off. This article was originally published in audioXpress, May 2014.

In this article, the author addresses possible scenarios when measuring loudspeaker input impedance at drive levels closer to those used in actual operation, including problematic examples with vented loudspeaker enclosures and constant voltage distributed system transformers. This article was originally published in Voice Coil, February 2011.