High-reliability and low-power vacuum tube technology

Eighty years after Radiospares Ltd opened selling elementary vacuum-tube-based components, the now RS Components has released a new miniaturised and high-performance vacuum tube technology.

The Nutube vacuum tube was developed by KORG, in cooperation with Noritake Itron Corp., and RS says it is an exemplar of the progress made in this type of technology over the decades. The device offers excellent reliability and efficiency while generating the same rich harmonics familiar to millions of tube amplifier users around the world, states the distributor.

The Nutube is similar to a conventional vacuum tube: it has an anode grid filament structure and operates in exactly the same way as a triode vacuum tube. In fact, it also offers twin triodes in a single package as a modern alternative to the classic 12AX7 twin-triode vacuum tube used in many amplifier applications. The Nutube is also similar to a vacuum tube in the way it creates the same characteristic rich overtones. However, KORG has applied vacuum fluorescent display technology to the development and has devised a structure that achieves a wide variety of operational and functional improvements compared with conventional vacuum tubes.

A key feature of the Nutube is its size, as it is less than 30 percent of the volume of a conventional vacuum tube. This also means a substantial power saving, with the device requiring less than two percent of the electrical power of a conventional tube, as well as enabling efficient and simple battery operation. The device’s small size and low thermal output also allows it to be easily mounted directly on a high- density circuit board without using a socket.

Product quality has also been improved, as the real triode structure of the Nutube produces a warm real vacuum tube sound as well as delivering excellent linearity that is close to the performance of an ideal twin triode. Other characteristics of the Nutube include: 5V operation, with a full operating voltage range from 5 – 80V; a gain of 14dB at Vcc of 12V; low-power consumption of 12mW (0.7V/17mA) per channel; and an expected service life of 30,000 hours continuous operation under normal use.

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