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Samsung debuts world's first 'Vacuum Tube Soundbar' - the HW-F750

post #1 of 12
1/9/13 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
In audiophile circles, the distortion added by tube amps is prized for the pleasant way high frequencies are rendered. Samsung breaks new ground by including tube amplification - in the form of a tube preamp - as the headline feature on their latest premium soundbar offering. Featuring Bluetooth streaming and a gyro sensor (to aid setup) as well as a dedicated subwoofer, the HW-F750 aims for the home theater buff who has little room to spare. Can you really hear the difference in a soundbar amplifier, or is the glowing tube just a bit of bling? No pricing as of yet.



Engaget takes a look:
Quote:
it certainly seemed loud enough, and gave the full surround system -- in a glass room just to the side of it -- a run for its money.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/09/samsung-vacuum-tube-soundbar-ears-on/

CNET's take:
Quote:
Samsung's obsession with tubes started with last year's CES darling, the DA-E750, and now the company is adding vacuum tube amplifiers to home theater systems and even sound bars. The newly announced Samsung HW-F750 is dubbed the "world's first sound bar with a vacuum tube amp,"

http://reviews.cnet.com/home-entertainment/samsung-hw-f750/4505-6449_7-35562023.html
Edited by imagic - 1/9/13 at 5:36pm
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post #2 of 12
1/10/13 at 11:41am
100% marketing BS.
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post #3 of 12
1/10/13 at 4:45pm
This product doesn't make any sense. Seems like those people that are into audio enough to be interested in tubes would know enough to stay far from this thing. I cannot imagine demand exists for this.
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post #4 of 12
1/10/13 at 10:52pm
They also have tube powered cellphone docks too. They have them on display at London Drugs and Best Buy in Canada. Sounds OK but what do you expect from a 2 inch speaker and a .5 inch or something tweeter. I also have a feeling the tube is not glowing but there is a led light hidden in there somewhere.
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post #5 of 12
1/11/13 at 7:30am
LOL, enough said! They make decent to great TVs but that is all I will give them. Everything I have owned from Samsung has broke, washer dryer etc.. They are trying to be more over the top than Sony and this just is more proof. wink.gif
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post #6 of 12
1/11/13 at 7:36am
Thread Starter 
Is there any evidence that tubes offer a sonic benefit? Bob Carver successfully emulated a Conrad Johnson reference tube amp's 'signature sound' using a much less expensive solid-state amp back in the 1980's - check out The Carver Challenge in Stereophile - The only tangible benefit I see is that tubes 'soft clip' when driven to distortion.
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Originally Posted by Garman View Post

LOL, enough said! They make decent to great TVs but that is all I will give them. Everything I have owned from Samsung has broke, washer dryer etc.. They are trying to be more over the top than Sony and this just is more proof. wink.gif
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post #7 of 12
1/11/13 at 7:56am
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Originally Posted by imagic View Post

Is there any evidence that tubes offer a sonic benefit? Bob Carver successfully emulated a Conrad Johnson reference tube amp's 'signature sound' using a much less expensive solid-state amp back in the 1980's - check out The Carver Challenge in Stereophile - The only tangible benefit I see is that tubes 'soft clip' when driven to distortion.

No. Tubes add distortion. Tubes for TV audio playback is utter nonsense.*

If this is based on the same design as their ipod dock** then it's a pre-amp tube (it's a jj 12au7). It still has a solid state power amp so it still hard clips if you turn it up too high. The tube simply colors the sound at all volume levels.

*tubes are great in the right device...a guitar amp for instance.
**the ipod dock version does sound good for a wave radio sized device and I wouldn't mind having one if it was 1/4 the price.
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post #8 of 12
1/11/13 at 8:05am
Samsung is on a 'vintage' tear for products right now. Tubes and carbon in their music docks and leather and vintage style on the cameras they are dropping now.
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post #9 of 12
1/11/13 at 7:04pm
ha! i'm no tube connoisseur, but I'd be curious what tube fans think of tube equipment characterized as being better because of the "distortion added by tube amps is prized for the pleasant way high frequencies are rendered".
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post #10 of 12
1/12/13 at 9:16am
Thread Starter 
Tube connoisseurs know that's the way it works although discussions on the topic can be endlesss. I'm quoting from Wikipedia here:
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"The tube sound is often subjectively described as having a "warmth" and "richness", but the source of this is by no means agreed on. It may be due to the non-linear clipping that occurs with tube amps, or due to the higher levels of second-order harmonic distortion, common in single-ended designs resulting from the characteristics of the tube interacting with the inductance of the output transformer."
Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagorunner10 View Post

ha! i'm no tube connoisseur, but I'd be curious what tube fans think of tube equipment characterized as being better because of the "distortion added by tube amps is prized for the pleasant way high frequencies are rendered".
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post #11 of 12
1/16/13 at 9:59am
It's pretty, I'll give that. About the ipod dock they sell, I wonder how many folks bought it for what they go for eek.gif


Djoel
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post #12 of 12
2/23/13 at 10:59am
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Originally Posted by Djoel View Post

It's pretty, I'll give that. About the ipod dock they sell, I wonder how many folks bought it for what they go for eek.gif
I heard one (Samsung DA-E750) at a store and it sounded fantastic for a dock. I could never call myself an audiophile though. I was looking to spend $300 on a nice dock. The Samsung had just been marked down from $799 to $599 at the store but still out of my price range. I had to have one though after hearing it. I found it on the web for $499, no shipping or tax so I ordered it. Haven't received it yet. Was definitely a splurge. Reviews have been wide ranging though from "the best sounding dock ever made" to "very good but no better than a nice dock at half the cost." To my ears it was head and shoulders better than anything I'd heard at that size. We'll see when I get it into my home office.
Edited by jtfields - 2/23/13 at 11:05am
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