While once essential to computing and audio functions, vacuum tubes have long since gone the way of the dinosaur. If, however, the various Jurassic Park/World movies have taught us anything, it’s that with the right amount of tinkering, old ideas can become new again.
Such is the case with Korg’s Nutube, which uses vacuum flourescent display technology to form a device that claims the same rich overtones as tubes of yesteryear, while being much smaller and using less than 2% of the power of traditional tubes. Perhaps most importantly, they are currently being manufactured!
If you’d like to get your hands on tasty audio produced with this technology, Tindie seller microwavemont is offering an amplifier kit. Unlike previous versions, this device comes with a full enclosure, and proudly displays its glowing rectangular tubes through a panel of acrylic glass. Volume and power-on is controlled with a beautiful Aluminum knob, and the unit produces a 15W stereo output. The finished device is seen in the video below, though to truly experience the audio output, you’d certainly have to hear it in person!
If you’ve been curious about getting into high-quality audio, or would just like a primer on amplifier basics, be sure to check out this post by Chris D. Additionally, if this device seems familiar, you may have seen a post about microwavemont’s headphone amp based on this tech. Alas, it appears that product is now retired—like many of this seller’s previous creations—so if this amp looks interesting, you may want to go ahead and order one!
