If you’ve ever wondered why something like a radio or a TV could command a hefty fraction of a family’s yearly income back in the day, a likely culprit is the collection of power transformers needed ...

Jeffrey Falla offers amp repair service through El Diablo Amps and Guitars in Seward, which also stocks both ToneTron and ...

Having built a number of vacuum tube output transformer-less (OTL) amplifiers in recent years, it seemed as though it might be a good idea to try combining older with newer technology and using both ...

There you are at the surplus store, staring into the bin of faded orange, yellow, red, and black, boxes–a treasure trove of vintage vacuum tubes—dreaming about building a tube amp for your guitar or a ...

Todd Sharp is surrounded by a mountain of guitar amps. But he’s quick to say some of them are better than others. “That’s kind of my motto here: Life is too short to play shitty amps,” he said with a ...

IN THE AGE OFwireless speakers and Bluetooth streaming, vacuum-tube amplifiers may seem antiquated, but you don’t have to be an audio nerd to appreciate their appeal. Designed to power traditional ...

Vacuum tube amplifiers just won’t go away. I am speaking more of audio vacuum tube amps than I am of microwave amps like magnetrons, klystrons, TWTs and the like. Most other audio gear is solid state ...

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has snarled the supply chain for many products. WAMC’s Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports on how some local retailers are dealing with a shortage in ...

McIntosh Labs has just released a new two-channel vacuum tube amplifier that’s sure to please audiophiles. The MC1502 is based on the award-winning limited edition MC2152 70th anniversary amp but has ...

Like most of us during what advertisers like to call “this difficult time,” I was compelled to spend a fair amount of it “working” from home. Truth be told, I hadn’t worked so hard in years. My wife ...

The $15,000 McIntosh MC3500 MK II Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier goes back to the future and it is one mighty beast. The industrial design is definitely a mixture of old and new and it’s not something ...