Aloha Bob,
I attended and liked the Serious Stereo room too. But I also liked the Eficion speakers, deHavilland Fisher 50a monos, Audio Note 300b kit monos, and JJ 300b stereo amp in the Eurotubes room.
Charlie Kittelson's talk on current and NOS tubes was comprehensive, clear, succinct, and useful. He explained that the essential differences between NOS and current production tubes was not only QC but the quality of the nickel used in cathode materials. Old stock mfgs used ultra-pure nickel made in Germany and the US, while current production mgfs. use nickel from China and Russia.
Sorry not to have run into you!
I attended and liked the Serious Stereo room too. But I also liked the Eficion speakers, deHavilland Fisher 50a monos, Audio Note 300b kit monos, and JJ 300b stereo amp in the Eurotubes room.
Charlie Kittelson's talk on current and NOS tubes was comprehensive, clear, succinct, and useful. He explained that the essential differences between NOS and current production tubes was not only QC but the quality of the nickel used in cathode materials. Old stock mfgs used ultra-pure nickel made in Germany and the US, while current production mgfs. use nickel from China and Russia.
Sorry not to have run into you!