Guess what?

[dpastern]

Can anyone guess what it is? Hint: it's old (well, the design is).

Cheers,

Dave

edit: shot @ 1:1 handheld in low light, high ISO (800 from memory).

[M54]

Absolutely no idea!:shrug::P

[Vanda]

Oh come on I hate suspense! How about a clue? Its a piece of a? The spring connected to something?

[M54]

Is it some kind of pull cord light switch???
Or something to do with a pinball machine?:shrug:

[DavidU]

The underneath of some gas appliance or refrigeration?

[dpastern]

If I give a clue, it'll probably give it away, but here goes, RCA, 1931.



No, but sort of close on the first guess, nowhere near on the 2nd part though ;-)



Sorta close - this does have gas in it.

Hope that helps ;-)

Cheers,

Dave

edit: you don't see these very much these days, and an original RCA would set you back anywhere up to US 1k or more sometimes, especially for the military spec versions. 2nd edit: these can be deadly too - with 1250v or higher involved. Do the wrong thing and you're dead. They were once very very very common.

[lacad01]

Hmm, could go by a few names: power tube, power valve, vacuum tube aka from a tube amplifier :question:

[bartman]

Vacuum tube resistor....the one in old radios....
you pipped me I think Adam
Or maybe
Sensitive microphone OR
HeNe lazzzzer tube
just guessing now
Bartman

[dpastern]

Correct and correct. This is a 1:1 shot of the top section a Chinese made Shuguang 845B valve - a rather good copy of the RCA made 845 units. These are known as triodes (3 main parts - anode, cathode and grid), as opposed to the simple diodes, and more complex pentodes, tetrodes, etc. The 845 is one of the most famous of the triodes, and enjoys much respect from the audio community. Other triodes of notoriety are the 211 (very similar in many ways to the 845), and the 300B.

These valves aren't cheap but aren't expensive either, around $300/pair. They usually last around 10k hours. These are a part of my newish amps - Cyber Opera Consonance 845 SETs (single ended triodes) - they run in single ended mode rather than parallel (which effectively splits the signal and rejoins it, not good imho), pure Class A. Lowish power, but a wonderful sound nevertheless. Here's a few shots of the amp:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/4826218976_c49738027d.jpg

Front of the amp:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4812213742_5f7622c83f.jpg

Sides of the amp:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4812213614_297af442c5.jpg

valve mounting section (from the top):

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4811589653_d161014f41.jpg

these are monoblocs, so there's Two of them.

Dave

[bartman]

Dave..... very cool!
Not into audiotronics( if that i s a word...:) ) but it looks great!
I'm sure it will sound fantastic too!!!
Bartman

[bartman]

BTW
Maybe we could start a new competition thread with " guess what " as the theme?
Anybody interested?
Obviously winner gets to post a new pic and if there is a stalemate, then after an arbitrary amount of days, the poster has to reveal the object and then the first one in with a new photo will be the next challenge...
Bartman

Mike should I post this as a new thread?

[dpastern]

It's fine with me. Go 4 it (if Mike is OK with it that is).

Yes, it's pretty cool stuff. Bonus = you don't need a heater in winter with these amps (yes, they really do throw out a lot of heat, one of the problems of Class A amps).

Dave

[DavidU]

VERY nice Dave. Have you seen one of my tube amps?

[dpastern]

I have indeed. The story on how I acquired these amps is funny! I heard about this brand, and checked out my local hi fi forums and found a few people had them. I PM'd them about how they sounded etc. Ended up talking to a lovely guy who lives in ACT about his pair (no intentions of buying them from him, just querying how they sound etc). I mentioned that the manufacturer had just released the 's' version, which has all valve rectification, rather than solid state and he didn't know about it. He went and visited the manufacturer's site, loved the new look and right there and then offered to sell me his pair, so he could fund buying the new 's' units. Talk about luck. Got them for a good price, and the bonus is that the warranty is transferable.

I've been pretty happy with the new amps, they have a wonderful sound, although I think they're struggling running my Sonus Faber speakers (89db, 6 ohm load).

Dave

[DavidU]

Lady luck was on your side ! Tube rectification is now very popular.All the more heat to keep your house nice and A class warm LOL.

[dpastern]

Yes, it is. Gonna be a bummer in summer I think, especially since I have no air con...it already gets near 40 degrees in my room I reckon (during Summer). *sigh*

Dave

[troypiggo]

I guess it's a vacuum valve.... oh, too late. :)

[dpastern]

Good guess! You get a silver star my friend!

Dave

[Jen]

:screwy: well to me it looks like a candle inside a slinky :rofl::rofl:

[dpastern]

what's a slinky?

Dave

[supernova1965]

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A SLINKY IS :eyepop: Look here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZL6RGkPjws

[dpastern]

ahhh that's a slinky!!!! Thank you!

Dave