Retrovalves

[Alf]

http://retrovalves.com/About.aspx

Has anyone ever heard about these tubes ? They have three patents going and some pending. And it has to do with Jet City amplification

Listen to the demos , not too bad !

And they seem to have special colours.

[Enzo]

I can't get the link to work. Not even if I remove the extension.

[g1]

Here's a working link: Roberts Audio Technologies
They are not tubes. They are solid state plug-in replacements for 12AX7's. If I'm going to convert from tube to solid state, I'll trade in my amp for something solid-state that is designed to emulate a tube amp from the ground up.
Just thinking about it reminded me of the movie "the Dilemma" where they build an electric powered retro musclecar, with a sound system that makes it sound like it's powered by a gasoline V8.

[defaced]

AMT Electronics just announced similar devices a couple days ago - including a 6L6 replacement. Curves and such are on the Russian version of their site. I also seem to remember seeing something similar in a NAMM video on YouTube a couple of years ago. Preamp tube replacements with different "flavors" for varying amounts of gain and such - I'm not sure if these are the same or not. I've always been curious about trying them, but cost has been prohibitive.

[Steve Conner]

The bad news is that car exists. When Brabus tuned the Tesla Roadster, they left the powertrain alone and just added a V8 sound generator.

The other bad news is, like the gas engine, vacuum tubes won't be around forever. If we want to move forward then we have to start considering a world without them. For starters I reckon the first triode in almost any amp could be replaced by a FET and nobody would notice.

[g1]

The other bad news is, like the gas engine, vacuum tubes won't be around forever. If we want to move forward then we have to start considering a world without them.

In the same vein, I won't be trying to retrofit and electric engine into my '69 Valiant either. I'll go for something designed around an electric powerplant.
But that's just my personal preference. I have nothing against solid state modules for tube replacement, and it's good someone is doing something about it. Might even bring the tube prices down, but might also lead to an earlier demise of tubes. For myself, I have no use for a solid state amp running on 500+ volts.

[Alf]

They are not tubes. They are solid state plug-in replacements for 12AX7's

Then I would certainly like to hear them "in realtime".

AMT Electronics just announced similar devices a couple days ago - including a 6L6 replacement.

That would be even more interesting if they could deliver a genuine tubesound with all the feel that goes with it.

And I agree that a new technology would be welcome taking into account the rather poor quality of a lot of current production tubes.

Recently I saw some pictures of mountains of tubes that used to be discarded after a quality control. I have have a feeling every tube that is produced nowadays end up on the shelves.

[GregS]

A product like this could be in high demand when or if tubes become unavailable or unaffordable. Although new amps might not be designed around it, existing tube amps could at least remain functional.

Greg

[km6xz]

Tubes will probably be made on a small scale, as is the case now, for a long time because it is a low technology, largely hand made item. Anyone with a modest investment and some effort can go into production of tubes since they are not using secret hard to get materials or processes. As the price rise, it might even attract a few more companies to start up. Some technologies do not work well in small batches such as recording tape which will never go back into production from new companies.
I do not see the market for solid state tubes, unless some serious marketing hype is used to describe their unique fairy dust they are made from. The high end tweaker market for high priced gimmicks is pretty soft right now.
An optimized solid state system has more options to sound the way someone wants than tube designs but instead of wringing out better sound from solid state the companies have been focusing on crap modeling amps which all sound bad and play badly. Never heard a Line 6 that did not want me to unplug it, no matter how many claims of "capturing" real amp sounds. Modeling amps have their place however. A cover band playing lounges in Vegas where a lot of different styles are to be impersonated, can use them but Muzak could be just as easily substituted.
If someone got serious about designing good playing and sounding solid state, the true capability and superiority would be experienced. So far, cheap and just enough to get by, the the limit of design requirements. That means the bad rep they have is justified by the junk offered, but there is no direct relationship between the technology and bad sound. The assumption is that the technology is bad, not just that individual product.

[defaced]

While the guitar market will largely ignore these, any new product allows the production of new sounds - including SS tubes. "Classic" tube sounds were created by guys abusing their marginally designed gear. The problem becomes people - being humans and all - are fixated on romanticizing memories, so any new sonic possibilities with these tubes will be missed because the focus is currently on recreating the old, not discovering the new. As such, these won't be marketed correctly and will probably fail. Personally, in a high distortion preamp context, I find high voltage SS devices in tube like circuits to offer some cool possibilities. Unfortunately I haven't really had the time to work on them, but I have seen enough work from other DIYers to continue down the path when time allows.

[überfuzz]

One thing puzzles me. Why are they market as... valves? (Vacuum tubes are called valves in english.) They should emphasise - alternative suitable for your old tube amp - instead. Further, the pricing I remember seeing something in the realms of 30$, which seemed hefty to me when I first saw them.

Edit: I didn't mean to bitch about them. Semiconducting material is a much more elaborated field nowadays. Who knows, some day tubes probably be schooled by bipolar- or MOS-transistor. For starters semiconductors rarely needs to be replaced.