Collaborate Disseminate
Most of us have beheld the sonic glory of an Atari Punk Console, that lo-fi synth whose classic incarnation is a pair of 555 timers set up to warble and …read more Continue reading The Atari Punk Console, Now With More Vacuum Tubes
New York’s high-end audio gear maker McIntosh Labs has reworked the iconic monoblock amplifier that powered the sound system at the 1969 Woodstock music and art fair. Rocking the spirit of the original amps, the MC3500 Mk II has a similar outward appea… Continue reading McIntosh revives the spirit of Woodstock with MC3500 Mk II amp
There was a time when people like us might own a tube tester and even if you didn’t, you probably knew which drug store had a tube testing machine you …read more Continue reading Modern Tube Tester Uses Arduino
While we typically encourage hackers to make their own tools or machines when practical, x-ray machines don’t usually make that list. Despite the risk of radiation, [William Osman] has done …read more Continue reading Building An X-Ray Machine
Startup Amonito has launched an all-in-one guitar amplification package shaped roughly like an ammonite that offers analog tube-driven sounds and digital effects. And there’s a lot to like here, apart from the rather high price of entry.Continue Readin… Continue reading Shapely hybrid floor amp combines tube-driven sound with digital smarts
We’ve all seen electronic components that have been coaxed into releasing their small amount of Magic Smoke, which of course is what makes the thing work in the first place. …read more Continue reading Overdriving Vacuum Tubes and Releasing the Magic Light Within
In a few museums around the world, there lies the special experience of seeing some of the earliest computers. These room-filling monsters have multiple racks of vacuum tubes that are …read more Continue reading The First New Vacuum Tube Computer Design For Well Over Half A Century
It can be difficult for modern eyes to make much sense of electronics from the 1960s or earlier. Between the point-to-point soldering, oddball components, and the familiar looking passives blown …read more Continue reading Restoring a Vintage Tube Tester to its Former Glory
“You should have used a 555” has become a bit of a meme around these parts lately, and for good reason. There seems to be little that these ubiquitous chips …read more Continue reading Should Have Used a Vacuum Tube 555
If you’ve got a half-hour or so to spare, you could do worse than this video trip through a Philips factory in the 1930s.
The film is presented without narration, but from the Dutch title cards and the fact that …read more
Continue reading Retrotechtacular: Philips Factory Tour, circa 1930s