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NYT: iPod and the Vacuum Tube Sing a Warm Duet
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 3:00 PM - by John Martellaro
There are lots of devices one can plug an iPod into and listen to music. For those audiophile purists, a throwback vacuum tube system is hard to beat, the New York Times reported.
The sound quality of these modern docking devices depends on a lot of things, but they all have one thing in common. They use modern transistor technology. Now, a UK company is making iPod docking devices that use the old-fashioned vacuum tubes to create a special rich sound that purists say only vacuum tubes can create.
 Fatman iTube Valve Dock |
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" ...Roth Audio, a company based in Reading, England, is appealing to the inner audiophile of iPod users with its Cocoon MC4, a compact docking station and amplifier topped by four vacuum tubes that glow when the power is on. Pop an iPod into the dock, and you have an odd couple: The iPod, apotheosis of the slim, portable and digital, and the flanking vacuum tubes that are fat, stationary and utterly analog," Anne Eisenberg wrote.
The second device, more geared to the living room, the Fatman iTube, has an additional tube that isn't involved in the amplification. It was added just for fun to show the sound level.
In addition to the sheer fun of owning one of these devices, they also tell a marketing story. Jay Rein, president of Bluebird Music who distributes the devices in the U.S. said, "Everybody has an iPod... So anything you can attach to an iPod sells."
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