[Bemopti123]

http://www.samsung.com/us/2012-vacuum-tube-amplifier/

I have seen their smartphone dock with tubes before but now they are pushing out all sort of orange glowing stuff, even a HT soundbar with tubes.

[richidoo]

is it just a marketing gimmick?

Yes

[Rob Babcock]

Yeah, looks like they're trolling for audio hipsters.

[Bemopti123]

Yeah, looks like they're trolling for audio hipsters.

I wonder if tube rolling works?  Perhaps use Siemens gold pins will improve the sound, NOT. 

[stereocilia]

Interesting. So, why is this bad? Don't we want audiophile ideals in the mainstream?

[FullRangeMan]

Interesting. So, why is this bad? Don't we want audiophile ideals in the mainstream?

Samsung is a big dog like Apple, nothing good came from them.

[stereocilia]

I have a Samsung TV. It's pretty good I think. I mean, sure, that speaker with the tube looks kind of cheesy. But, if Apple started to praise the virtues of tubes, wouldn't that introduce a whole mass of people to the existence of vacuum tubes? I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't know a vacuum tube from a Christmas ornament.

So, if a bunch of non-audiophile consumers are presented with the idea that this glowing glass thing is one pathway to better sound, and that something other than the woofer size or the number of watts might matter, then wouldn't that be a good thing?

[FullRangeMan]

Apparently it would be good, but Apple will not do it.
They dont sell any hi-fi system.
Samsung do it and nothing happen.

[maplegrovemusic]

Of course this is a good thing . The more the general public turns onto tube equipment the less we will have pay in the long run . It would take a decade or decent  price drop on our favorite hifi brands however.

[Rob Babcock]

Simply put the ornamental trappings of audiophilia won't do any good at all.  It's audio hipsterism.  It doesn't hurt anything but I don't think it helps anything, either.

[dB Cooper]

When the product page starts out in the extremely misleading way that it does, I fail to see how it can benefit the audio community. They might reel in a few chumps with flat out BS like their graphic which essentially says that every digitally reproduced sound wave is clipped. Perhaps they meant to discuss the difference between clipping behavior of analog vs digital circuits, but they put very little effort into that if so. While a case can be made for tubes, their marketing approach shows they are clearly aimed at the rich-idiot market.

[stereocilia]

I think they may have gotten the pricing wrong, then. If I were a rich idiot I would pay so much more than $250 for a Samsung ipod dock with warm unclipped sound. Clipping, man, that sounds painful. 250 wouldn't be nearly enough to even cover the R&D costs Samsung must have incurred to invent vacuum tube technology.

[srb]

I think they may have gotten the pricing wrong, then. If I were a rich idiot I would pay so much more than $250 for a Samsung ipod dock with warm unclipped sound. Clipping, man, that sounds painful. 250 wouldn't be nearly enough to even cover the R&D costs Samsung must have incurred to invent vacuum tube technology.

What pricing are you referring to?  It doesn't look like Samsung is currently selling a vacuum tube dock without speakers but they are selling the DA-E751/ZA Wireless Vacuum Tube Speaker Dock ($800 MSRP) for $450 and some internet retailers are selling a refurbished one for $250.

Steve

[FullRangeMan]

Of course this is a good thing . The more the general public turns onto tube equipment the less we will have pay in the long run . It would take a decade or decent  price drop on our favorite hifi brands however.

if all these iphone users began to buy valves the price would increase quickly.
What we need is tubes manufacturing.

[stereocilia]

What pricing are you referring to?  It doesn't look like Samsung is currently selling a vacuum tube dock without speakers but they are selling the DA-E751/ZA Wireless Vacuum Tube Speaker Dock ($800 MSRP) for $450 and some internet retailers are selling a refurbished one for $250.

Steve

I didn't do my research; I didn't see that it was refurbished. The msrp says 699, but the huge difference between the msrp and the street price hurts the credibility even further. So it's probably a crap product. I still believe that non-audiophiles having awareness that vacuum tubes exist and can employed in new electronics is a good thing for us.

http://www.n1wireless.com/Audio_Home_Theater-Samsung_DA-E751_Vacuum-Tube_and_Digital_Amp_Wireless_Audio_System_with_Dual_Dock.html?gdftrk=gdfV26616_a_7c189_a_7c387_a_7cDAE751ZA&gclid=CLr3o9Hh0sMCFYk8gQod138Aew