New Projects, Reviews, and Glass Audio Special Articles Available with audioXpress May 2020

audioXpress May 2020 Glass Audio/Tube Focus edition is now available. Highlighted on the cover is a review of the RødeTest FuzzMeasure Audio and Acoustic Measurement Software and Ethan Winer's experiments to measure capacitor distortion. For tube enthusiasts, Bill Reeve repurposes an old Shure preamp for line-level duty, and Bruce Heran details how he built his two Mini Blocks tube amplifiers. Mike Rothacher shares an inexpensive MOSFET Follower (MoFo) Class A amplifier project, Richard Honeycutt provides valuable lessons about repairing guitar amplifiers, and there's plenty more audio electronics focused articles. Download now!

Audio Research (ARC) announce important updates to its highest-performance tube phono stage, the Reference Phono 3 Phono Preamplifier with the launch of the Reference Phono 3SE. Following the launch of the recent Reference (REF) 6SE Line-Stage Preamplifier, ARC’s 50th Anniversary product line continues with a special edition update of the Ref Phono 3 Preamplifier. The REF Phono 3SE ($17,000 USD) replaces the REF Phono 3, introduced in 2016.

For audioXpress May 2019 -Glass Audio Special - we’ve put together a very strong edition, with some of best tube experts sharing a series of DIY projects for all skill levels, from restoration projects to new amplifiers, preamps, and headphone amps. We review the Nu:Tekt HA-K1 headphone amplifier using the novel Korg Nutube 6P1 device, and interview the founder of Parks Audio. We go deep on measuring voltage regulator ripple rejection and we even look at square-wave testing. All inside audioXpress May 2019!

Dayton Audio unveiled a new compact design that combines the efficiency and power of solid state class D amplifier topology with the warmth and character of a vacuum tube preamp section. The new Dayton Audio HTA20BT hybrid stereo tube amplifier combines a 12W per channel RMS design (into a 4 ohm load) with Bluetooth 4.2, Aux, and USB inputs, featuring a subwoofer output for adding an active subwoofer and a high quality headphone amplifier built-in. The results, the brand says, are sure to please even the most refined ears.

VANA, Ltd. is now the North American distributor for European Audio Team’s (E.A.T.) line of vacuum tubes made in the Czech Republic. E.A.T. is dedicated to hand making the finest 300B and KT88 tubes tested on custom made instruments to meet the highest standards. E.A.T. Vacuum Tubes are painstakingly handcrafted within a former Tesla factory in the Czech Republic, under the supervision of Jozefina Lichtenegger and using the manufacturing equipment previously in the Tesla Vrsovice factory.

The 150-year-old Western Electric will reintroduce its flagship product to market, the famous 300B electron tube. In time for its 80th anniversary, the 300B is returning to production this year, and the Rossville-based company announced they will restart the manufacturing in a brand new facility. Charles Whitener, Western Electric CEO, also confirmed the company will unveil a new single-ended amplifier called the 91E, as an homage to its famous predecessor the 91A, first introduced in 1936.

Where do tubes come from? In this article Richard Honeycutt revisits the history of tube electronics, from its early invention to the widespread adoption in radios and television receivers. And because familiarity simplifies tube selection, the article explains where some of the most common tube types can be applied in todays designs on power amplifiers and pre-amplifiers and tube stages. This article was originally published in audioXpress, April 2013 as part of the Hollow-State Electronics monthly column by Richard Honeycutt.

In this article, Richard Honeycutt provides a brief description of the main tube types used in audio applications, from triodes to tetrodes and pentodes, describing its uses, features and potential benefits. If you are looking for a quick reference reading about tubes that have been used in audio amplification this article is a great start. This article was originally published in audioXpress, May 2013 as part of the Hollow-State Electronics monthly column by Richard Honeycutt.

Lauten Audio announced the LA-320 professional large diaphragm vacuum tube studio condenser vocal microphone, its first microphone in a new line dubbed “Series Black”. The LA-320 features a 1-inch pressure gradient true-condenser capsule, cardioid polar pattern, dual-triode vacuum tube, transformer balanced output, independent high and low cut filters, custom dedicated power supply, tube microphone cable, spider shock mount and hard case.

Here’s the final section in our series on parts reliability, how to choose them and how to estimate their life expectancy. In the third part of this article, the author continues to examine electronic components, and discusses what we can do about reliability. This article series was published in audioXpress, from November 2001 to January 2002.