Fifty-four years ago I experienced my first Stereo LP recording. I'll never forget that transformational experience as I became totally enveloped in the heightened sense of realism from the spatial splendor rendered by the two distinct channels of information. It created for me a more authentic illusion of a "LIVE PERFORMANCE" with its directionality and audible perspective. Add to this the ineffable sonic beauty of the then ubiquitous vacuum tubes, which mellifluously and cogently, rendered this stereo information with a purity that would have made virgins covetous. There is something very special about the glass that seems to make the musical illusion more tenable. As we fast-forward through monophonic, stereophonic, quadraphonic and surround sound,through tubes and solid state, it brings to mind the old bromide, "The more things change, the more they stay the same. Vacuum tubes are making a sententious comeback as more and more audiophiles become converts to the warm and glowing sound of good vacuum tube amplifiers,preamplifiers, and cd players. Personally, I wish Russia, Eastern Europe and China could produce the quality tubes of yesteryears which would bring the prices of NOS tubes down somewhere around reasonable. I also think, considering the resurgence of vacuum tube equipment, more people are understanding the concept "Less is More" and that more that tubes give you in my opinion, has no equal.
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