crazy valve mixing console with 1539 valves

[petzi]

Several German guys built a huge all valve mixing console with 1539 valves in it... No, 1539 is not the type code of the valve, it is the number of valves in the console... :cool:

Vintec (http://vintec-audio.de/)

[ December 22, 2001: Message edited by: Michael Beckmann ]

[Steve Hoffman]

I want one!

[petzi]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman:
I want one!

Do you want a 40, 56 or 96 channel chassis ? Hey, let me just call these guys, maybe I can earn a commission for referring you to them as their customer :D ;)

[Sckott]

I bet it levitates off the floor when you turn it on. 1,539 tubes inside? Whew. Sell the farm! I like the english translations they use in their FAQ. Glad more and more people are turning a open ear at tubes.

Heck, most HI FI magazines make a well-to-do for every modern tube amp made.

[Steve Hoffman]

I just need four channels, actually.

That would lower the price down to $10,000.00

:eek:

[Holy Zoo]

I wonder if it comes with it's own air conditioning unit.

:)

jeff

[FabFourFan]

Originally posted by Holy Zoo:
I wonder if it comes with it's own air conditioning unit. :)


If it really has 1500+ tubes in it, then its reliability can be predicted to be essentially nil, air conditioned or not.

[Holy Zoo]

Originally posted by FabFourFan:



If it really has 1500+ tubes in it, then its reliability can be predicted to be essentially nil, air conditioned or not.


Maybe it only really uses 769 tubes at once, with 769 as fault-tolerant backup units, with an onboard robot that shuffles out dead tubes for new ones, all without missing a beat.

You see, it's only a matter of engineering...

[petzi]

Originally posted by FabFourFan:
If it really has 1500+ tubes in it, then its reliability can be predicted to be essentially nil, air conditioned or not.

They say their prototype has been functioning since 1999 without one failure, twelve hours a day...

Regarding the cooling:

How is the console cooled?

The C3 is equipped with a fully integrated, ultra-quiet cooling system. The complex air flow analysis was calculated and optimised by computers. All temperatures are monitored within the C3 by sensors. To find a solution regarding the cooling was one of the most complex tasks, it took about 1 1/2 years of development. The installed high-quality exhausts are, except changing of filters, maintenance-free.

I don´t know these guys, but they seem to have spent some thought on it. Regarding tubes:

The guaranteed life span of a SQ-Tube is 10.000 hours in general, averaged on 100 tubes (tube types and conditions we use: 26.400 hours). The manufacturer guarantee for each single tube is 12 month, provided that the filament voltage remains within the limits of +/- 5%. (The filament voltage in the Vintage C3 remains within the limits of +/- 0.01% from nominal).



[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: Michael Beckmann ]

[FabFourFan]

Yes, it's very reassuring that they used a computer to work out the cooling pathways.
And it's nice to see that they regulate the filament voltage so closely. zzzzzzzzzzz

But back to reality, please.

Nothing with hundreds of tubes in it works IN THE REAL WORLD,
because the tubes and the sockets will age and/or fail outright.

Consider their stated minimum 24 channels, with the 26 tubes per channel - that's 624 tubes just to get started!
Well, if you expect 99% of the tubes to be functioning perfectly, then you should expect that SIX or so are going to be having a problem.

How do they know which 6 of 624 are getting flakey?
All they seem to care about is shutting down any channel which senses overheating.

Steve may have the right idea, stick with 4 channels (104 tubes) and maybe the user will be able to tame the beast enough to get some use out of it.

I guess that Murphy wasn't German. :-)

[Steve Hoffman]

I agree with Phab4Phan, WAY overkill.

Now, why can't somebody design and market a four or eight channel tube line mixer with 4 tubes a channel that a normal person could afford?

Something like this, with less features at 1/3 the cost would be nice:
http://www.manleylabs.com/containerpages/16_299.html

[petzi]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman:
I agree with Phab4Phan, WAY overkill.


I´m not sure what to think of it, apparently these guys are obsessed. And that is an attitude that I find rather likable :D

Regarding a smaller console, would you expect that to be all tube in the signal path ? The Manley has op-amps in it.

[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: Michael Beckmann ]

[Steve Hoffman]

Hard to say. I've never heard a really great sounding all-tube console. Too murky.

Would be neat to be able to use one, though...

[Sckott]

It looks like they had a couple of circuts that worked well on each channel, and then they multiplied it for every damn channel. Yes, that is just bananas.

Even as a neophite though, tubes have been REAL solid! I've only had crappy tubes flake out on me. No Russian or US NOS or JAN have gone to 'poot' yet. I had some Teslas and one chinese Ruby go FFFTTT! But these were tubes stuffed in an amp I bought as "used", so....

I should post a few pictures of a few older consoles that were used long ago. I'll fire up my scanner again in a few... They weren't more than 4 channel, as I recall...

[Steve Hoffman]

Yes, Sckott. Please post those shots.

I'd love to see 'em!