Some of them are dead out of the box. Some tubes don't make it through burn-in and after a few days they just go noisy or quit. Sometimes UPS sabotages our shipments and after all our testing efforts the tube arrives broken at your place. Sometimes a tube decides to end it all early and intentionally misbehaves after a few months. Other tubes are real troopers (like my 98 year old neighbor*) and run strong for 30 years.

The tubes are made of a tough nylon and are protected from wear by the frame. Leaking and migration of the fluid from the tubes is minimal and the fluid will last for many years.

Laboratory tests have demonstrated that shorter tubing provides a better acoustic response. In reality most people do not have the hearing acuity to detect any performance impact from changes in tubing length unless there is a dramatic change in that length. In fact, the acoustic transmission of lower frequencies, with their longer wavelength, benefit slightly from increases in tubing length. Longer tubing tends to make the scope more convenient to use, but also adds a bit to its weight.

A glaze is an oil or water-based paint that is diluted and applied over a basecoat to allow the basecoat to show through the transparent look of the glaze.

A 30 foot boat will take approximately 3-4 hours depending on the initial condition of the vessel. Once the A Glaze has been applied, the cleaning of your boat will be dramatically cut.

Vacuum tubes used in our products last between 5000 - 9000 hours depending on where they are used. Drive tubes (the smaller tubes) are generally last up to 9000 hours, and power output tubes (the larger tubes in our amplifiers) about 5000 hours. They do not usually completely fail after this time, but gradually deteriorate as the cathode begins to loose its coating and cannot emit electronics at the maximum rate. The sound usually becomes less focused and 2D like lacking HF response.

A tube reaches operating temperature after a few seconds of switch on, however they can sound a little more controlled and focussed after approx. 20 minutes.

Most of the time, otitis media clears up with proper medication and home treatment. In many cases, however, further treatment may be recommended by your physician. An operation, called a myringotomy may be recommended. This involves a small surgical incision (opening) into the eardrum to promote drainage of fluid and to relieve pain. The incision heals within a few days with practically no scarring or injury to the eardrum.

I get this e-mail several times a week. My answer is always the same: please see my tube list at http://www.audiotubes.com and you will find everything to answer your questions there. If you see a tube listed, it means I have at least one in stock. If you don't see certain tubes there, or if you need a lot of one type, THEN e-mail me with the list of tubes in question.

These protocols are all used to run a remote session on a computer, over a network. PuTTY implements the client end of that session: the end at which the session is displayed, rather than the end at which it runs. In really simple terms: you run PuTTY on a Windows machine, and tell it to connect to (for example) a Unix machine. PuTTY opens a window.

Resinous glaze is an all-natural resin harvested >from the lac beetle. Contrary to myth, resinous glaze does not contain insects, but rather is made from insect secretions, much like honey. It is safe to eat and fine for vegetarians.

We are only as good as our worst tube. We are very selective about which tubes we use in Manley products and we have several different testing and burn-in jigs to test for certain parameters which will be most important for that tube in a given circuit. We will test and select a tube set for you that will be optimized for your Manley piece of gear and in most cases, your tube set will actually be tested in another one of what you have.

Not especially. Although I might have made a killing in the stock market had I invested the money I instead put into finding and stocking these large quantities of tubes ten years ago when the USA military were dumping their stocks of NOS JAN vacuum tubes.

Yes, it takes a while to get used to, but you will be able to hit with even more top-spin and back-spin with the moveable mass racket.

The Bullet Test Tube is always a nominal 11 inches in length because that length will contain most any wound cavity. This allows those testing bullets to compare wound cavities over a consistent depth of 11 inches. By adding the Xtender the bullet can be captured outside of the Bullet Test Tube. The most unique feature of the Bullet Test Tube is its ability to capture the wound cavity and illustrate to the shooter how the bullet tested, expanded.

Silly Putty is made primarily from silicone and color pigments. Silly Putty was discovered in 1943 by James Wright who mixed boric acid and silicone oil together. Colors are also added to Silly Putty to create a broad array of fun shades. The combination creates a "solid liquid" which can be molded, stretched and bounced.

There are a zillion uses for Silly Putty, 101 of which were humorously cataloged by author Linda Sunshine in her book, "101 Uses for Silly Putty." Some of those uses include: Cleaning typewriter and computer keys; plugging leaks; removing lint from clothing; leveling the leg of a wobbly table; helping smokers kick the habit; as a stress reliever; and as a forearm strengthener. Do you have a silly use for Silly Putty? Be sure to enter our "50 Silliest Uses for Silly Putty" contest at this link.