![]() When recorded music reproduced through a 2-channel stereo rig sounds real enough to give you chills down your spine, it’s clear that the system is generating sonics that are close to those heard in real life. With top-shelf cables and speakers, Audio Research’s vacuum tube components allow recorded music to sound more like real-life musical events than most solid-state gear. We say “should” because, all too often, that connection just doesn’t happen. This soul-moving connection with the music is what a listener should get from their gear. When recorded music sounds “real”, there’s an instantaneous recognition-a compelling and emotional connection to the music-that is self-evident and undeniable. As such, all of ARC’s analog circuits use a carefully selected combination of tubes, FETs, and BJT devices to deliver spine-chilling realism within the sound. This means that ARC’s tube gear is engineered to reproduce recorded vocals and instruments as close to the sound of real live human voices and instruments as possible. The superior harmonic integrity preserved by vacuum tubes allows tube circuits to resolve ambient cues, instrumental textures, and the acoustical spacing of the environments in which instruments and vocals were recorded with a far deeper texturing, scale, and musical authority.Īdditionally, tubes bring the benefit of using very high voltages that, when compared to pure solid-state circuits, results in tube circuits having a lot more dynamic headroom.Īudio Research’s tube gear aims to recreate recorded music as if it were occurring as a live event. Compared to the *odd* and higher-order harmonic distortion produced by transistors, the *even* and lower-order harmonic structure created by vacuum tube circuits is more natural. Why is this? One word… harmonics! Acoustic music is made up of even-order harmonics. Less-linear transistor devices tend to sound leaner and less natural. Linear devices like vacuum tubes produce a far more natural sound and provide a much deeper emotional connection to the music. As such, tubes maintain signal integrity better than transistors. Vacuum tubes are more linear electrical conductors than FETs, MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) or BJTs (Bipolar Junction Transistors). Why do vacuum tubes sound better than transistors? Let’s take a look at how Audio Research continues to push the limits of musical realism with its current, state-of-the-art range of vacuum tube-based components. Why did ARC continue to do this? ARC’s CEO Bill Johnson adamantly believed that tube gear sounded significantly better than solid-state transistorized gear. Just like digital watches, solid-state gear lacked human emotion and passion.īy 1970, Audio Research Corporation (ARC) and Dynaco were the only consumer electronics audio companies in the entire United States using vacuum tubes in their components. ![]() ![]() The one serious problem was, consumer audio gear that used transistors sounded harsh, sterile, and lacked human warmth. Transistors were cheap, readily available, and at that time, seemed to be the only economically feasible way to stay competitive within the marketplace. Mass-produced transistors and integrated circuit chips were the wave of the future. ![]() When transistorized circuits first appeared in the late 1960s, few consumer electronics companies continued making components with vacuum tubes. The history of vacuum tube audio gear is quite similar. Boutique watches were once again widely regarded as something worth investing in. All over the world, folks reconnected with the tradition of quality and artisanship that is inherent to heritage timepieces. As digital watches plummeted in value, analog watches made a roaring comeback. While they did tell the time, they lacked human warmth and emotional substance. Dump your stocks in Rolex, Tag, Breitling, and any other high-end Swiss watchmaker because they argued, analog wrist watches had one foot in the afterlife and the other on a banana peel.īy the early 1990s, digital watches were seen for what they truly were: cheap and disposable pieces of plastic junk that were made by machines for children and unsophisticated adults. Within a decade, they claimed, only museum curators and hobbyist collectors would have any use for traditional analog timepieces. When plastic digital watches were launched in the early 1980s, some folks predicted that classic analog watches would quickly bite the dust. Vacuum Tubes Are as Relevant As Ever in Audio Design
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