Y

My transistor system also has a green glow and it isn't produced by cheap LEDs;

That one isn't mine, mine still has the lid, though a few of my bulbs have blown and need replacing.

J

It took around 40 years for them to blow and it doesn't affect the operation of the stereo system. I'm sure valves themselves burn out eventually, given the cathode materials are spent by their operation, and then the amp won't work until you replace the valves... I thought this was why they socket them.

I dunno, LEDs don't look as good as filament bulbs to me, I like the orange glow. Then again, there are some applications where LEDs look better. LEDs are cheap though, last lot I bought I think it cost me a fraction of a scent per LED.

H

You could buy filament bulbs that were LED sized - they even fit in LED holders, perhaps that was the original intention for those holders - but I don't know if they make them now. Presumably you could "hack" them into one of those amps.

White LEDs do give a nice light to a room, I like the clean white it gives off. I like real fluorescent tubes as well though, in warm white (not that blue-white) so who knows what my thoughts are worth. I have a huge white neon sign I nicked from a shop/studio which closed, it is an advertisement for Schecter guitars. I use that to light the room sometimes... And I really do like neon lights, those things are cool, especially the good old red and blue combination.

When I get sorted with moving I want to break out my other audio gear, the newest of which is from the 1980s. Won't have room where I am going now though so I will have to hope my exchange plan works out. I have a Rotel RA-310 and some other old stuff, also found out my Sony CD player is actually the first model which was available to consumers... I never knew, it was just trash from someone back when I didn't have a CD player. Something is wrong with the drive though so I need to fix it, it could be a belt but I'm not sure as I have not tried to play with it and have packed it already.

HighTreason wrote:

You could buy filament bulbs that were LED sized - they even fit in LED holders, perhaps that was the original intention for those holders - but I don't know if they make them now. Presumably you could "hack" them into one of those amps.

I would worry about filament bulbs melting the holders.

Hasn't ever happened. You wouldn't likely need them in that application either and valves get hot (they have to, it's part of how they work) so heat would be of little concern.

They were a lot like Christmas bulbs but not pointy, they were like a little round glob. Christmas bulbs sit in a plastic shroud and fitting. They were even 12V like most Christmas light sets (20 light sets in 240V regions)... I suppose if you wanted to, you could probably scrap such an idea and use bell bulbs, these come in a package which resembles a glass fuse, only larger, and they usually operate at 6-to-8 Volts. Failing that, I guess clear Christmas light bulbs would work.

Leaving this info here for no real reason other than I am bored and waiting for something to finish processing. I suppose it may be useful to somebody who Bing'd in here looking for something completely different.

Logistics wrote:

In this thread: Lots of people who have never actually listened to decent tube gear. I'm not saying that tube gear is better, but if you believe it's outdated garbage then the honest fact is that you are ignorant. Find yourself a nice, little class-A tube-driven headphone ampilfier, listen to your favorite CD or vinyl, and report back.

Nobody said it's outdated garbage, it just doesn't set me on fire is all. I can appreciate the technology, but it's not something I would ever invest in.