Any fellow tube lovers here?

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Valvo? Brimar? Rca GE and Sylvania.. anyone else out there a user of this older technology?
Surely the green glow of a fresh eye tube hasn't been forgotten?
in all seriousness are there any fans out there who seek to make their own?

If you're talking about CRT my 36" Sony CRT-HDTV looks absolutely amazing when the video settings are adjusted correctly.

KV-36HS500

I sincerely believe it looks better than most newer HDTVs if the video settings are adjusted perfect for the individual video game I'm playing. And if I'm sitting the correct distance from the screen which is pretty close.

Haven't considered whether or not I'm a fan of "eye tubes" but I sure like EIMAC tubes! Had a friend who was a broadcast engineer (and fellow amateur radio op) and I used to love the glow from the 3-500Z. Other faves: 4-400, 572B, the versatile 811, and the 4-125 .

I collected old tube radios when I was a teen in the early 90s, then for a time in the late 90s I collected NOS tubes themselves. I must have a Telefunken tube somewhere.

I always wanted a Telefunken tube radio, and a transistor radio. I have a British made transistor radio from the 60s, it still has the "licence sticker" from the days when all UK radios had to be licensed. I have a clock radio from Spain that looks really cool. I wanted to get a German language tube set from Spain, but the shipping was too much. (I speak Spanish.) I LOVED Ebay back in the day, and loved going on sites for different countries. I bought several cool things, including a British Lloytron alarm clock that looks kinda like a UFO.

Anyway, back to tubes, I have a GE 6550A that was made by MPD in Kentucky as part of the last tube run made in the USA, my tube is dated 03-93. (The line was shut down in August 1993.) I also have a Yugoslavian Elekstronska Industrija (EI) tube from the old Yugoslavian factory that was destroyed in the Balkan wars. I have examples of Sovtek, Svetlana, and Tesla tubes as well. I have a Marconi tube that was apparently made in Italy and sold to the Swedish military. I have an old Zenith tube still sealed in its box. I have a lot of cool tubes.

Oh yeah, I have a Sylvania tube that is marked M-R, such tubes were made during World War 2 for the civilian market as part of a special permit from the War Materials Board in the USA that allowed "maintenance and replacement" goods to be manufactured at a time when ALL other civilian production had ceased. Such tubes are not easy to find, I searched high and low for two years to get my hands on one.

LCD>>>>>>>>>>CRT

'nuff said.

About three years ago I found and bought an unrestored Zenith 12-S-245 radio (1204 chassis) for $30 at a local yard sale. Its cabinet, although a bit scuffed up, was intact and solid and inside, except for its missing power transformer, was fully intact - including its OEM 6T5.



A replacement power transformer was quickly secured, the old wax-paper caps, e-caps and several other faulty component parts (mainly resistors, but also its dial belts) were changed out and a few other minor repairs made and I can safely say that this is one of the very BEST AM radio receivers that I have ever had the pleasure of turning on! And yes, the 6T5 still has some of its 'green' left.

Mike

I have a Philco 49-1607 console radio that I bought as my last birthday present to myself. I got it for $25 along with a 1980s custom built tube amp for an electric guitar (some electrical engineer built it apparently). I actually can't find much information about the console radio though, it is similar to the 49-1606 (looks exactly the same) except it has two tonearms, one for 78s and another for LPs. The 49-1609/1611/1613s are the only 1949 Philco console radios that could play both 78s and LPs, however they all look much different from mine. I am wondering if maybe I have a Canadian model or something.

I haven't got around to restoring it yet... the cabinet is in pretty rough shape... a leg is missing and lots of the wood has split and come apart and there are some overall structural problems with it. I am decent at working with wood though so I feel like repairing/restoring it is well within my skills. Replacing the capacitors is a whole other story though... even though I am a big computer geek I am not much into electronics so I have a lot of learning to do first.