Nuvista Tubes - General

This is old stuff gd. As far as production quantities go, you take what you can get. So if you want to make 300 preamps you need to find the appropriate amount of tubes. As George pointed out, they get their tubes at military surplus auctions. You may find a load of Nuvistors one day and a load of trivistors another. When you are buying old stuff you are at the mercy of the market place.

I have owned the MF Nu- Vista 3D CD player for about 16 years. It is really a wonderful piece of gear. The sound is very "natural," almost analog in nature and is not at all "syrupy."  Pretty good for a metal encased micro-tube.

As for the Nu-Vista vs Tri- Vista issue, my understanding is that there were a lot of problems with overheating in the Tri- Vista components. I have read a number of posts on various audio forums attesting to that. The Nu-Vistas were designed to stay cooler than the average tube, so that may explain MF's return to its use.

and is not at all "syrupy." Pretty good for a metal encased micro-tube.

That's because it's got a transistor buffer after the Nuvista to drive the outside world with, without it it'd be "syrupy" if the Nuvista had to do the job.

Cheers George   

George ... then what's the point of a hybrid design if the transistor buffer controls sound quality?

what's the point of a hybrid design

Sales pitch, to make one believe there's a a romantic/euphonic side to it. as the tubes are in between the s/s I/V stage and output buffer and serves no purpose, but a sales pitch.

Cheers George