gfxdave99 Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 http://www.uncrate.com/men/gear/car-audio-video/panasonic-cqtx5500d-vacuum-tube-car-stereo-000697.php http://www.uncrate.com/men/images/panasonic-CQ-TX5500D.jpg The Panasonic CQ-TX5500D ($950) is the only car stereo that we know of that features a built-in vacuum tube amplifier for all the retro-sounding overtones you so desperately desire. It plays CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3 discs, and emits an orange glow that you can see through the middle window when you're rocking out. The double-din stereo, which will fit in many import cars (and get rid of that stupid empty pocket thing in your dash at the same time), also sports old school meters that have needles instead of LEDs. If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rony Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Lol, cool... Looks like they have been dipping into the McIntosh design vault.. My Car vBGarage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc 540i Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 That's expensive, cool design though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-2.5-GT Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Panasonic = no thanks....its bad enough thats what the OEM player is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutBucket Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 That's just damned backwards. Why on earth would you use a tube amp with a digital source...especially mp3's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fzanetti Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Audiophile tube amp to amplify a non-audiophile MP3 format??? Makes no sense to me... Cool design though... Good luck fitting a double-din in the Legacy.. I ve heard people saying that it's possible bla bla bla, but you will need to customize the dash and create another one to be able to use that.... I am curious if anyone else has done a custom dash to our cars... Rgds, Flavio Zanetti Boston, MA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
direavenger Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 That's just damned backwards. Why on earth would you use a tube amp with a digital source...especially mp3's? The signal is converted to analog before its amplified. This is pretty universal in head unit design, no? The Dude - Two inches and counting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotaz Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Tubes can take away some of the harshness associated with digital sources. I had a tube headphone amp for a while hooked up to a high end CD player, and it sounded very warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_low78 Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 agree, its totally based of the type of music you listen to. Like digital guitar amps and tube amps, if you like the greats (hendrix, vaughan) or any other blues type players then it's great, even rocks with Jazz music. If you listen to a lot of drop D %^$# then just buy a reg digital source, because crap in crap out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacysteve68 Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 dont know whether i like it or not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutBucket Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 agree, its totally based of the type of music you listen to. Like digital guitar amps and tube amps, if you like the greats (hendrix, vaughan) or any other blues type players then it's great, even rocks with Jazz music. If you listen to a lot of drop D %^$# then just buy a reg digital source, because crap in crap out I never figured Hendrix or Vaughn used digital amps...I know dimebag from Pantera (RIP) did wonderful things with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_low78 Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 no they didn't (don't even think they had digital amps back then), all the greats used tubes, because they are clean so it's harder to "fake" what your playing. Don't get me wrong , you can distort the hell out of them to. What i was getting at is the new aged drop D style (detune your guitar so you only need to really play 3 strings, therefor your album will probably consist of no more then 3 chords played in various patterns, but hey , if people buy it, do it, im not hating). If you listen to brassy music a tube amp (in car or home) would be a bad choice, just stick with mainstream digital amps for mainstream music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 22, 2005 Author Share Posted June 22, 2005 The main thing for me is I have a HUGE nerdy audiophile fetish for analog VU meters, it could have been a digital pre-amp with the analog VU meters and I still would have wanted one. Damn i checked out the rest of this site .. check out http://www.audiocubes.com they specialize in importing japan only electronics.. check out his eclipse! http://www.audiocubes.com/images/f_eclipse_e3305cmt.jpg Oooh man http://www.audiocubes.com/images/f_panasonic_cqvx5500d.jpg whaaaa why do they get all the cool stuff http://www.audiocubes.com/images/f_pioneer_fhp070md.jpg http://www.audiocubes.com/images/f_sony_wx7700mdx.jpg im gonna go pout now If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rony Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Why do those remind me of Windows Media Player skins? My Car vBGarage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 Why do those remind me of Windows Media Player skins? Probably cuz some dude in japan based his skin off of it If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutBucket Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I'm more jealous that at least the Eclipse and Panny are MD decks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 I'm more jealous that at least the Eclipse and Panny are MD decks. Yes not only are they MD they are MDLP which you can record up to 320 minutes of audio on a single 80 min MiniDisk. Basically like the slightly less then smash hit NETMD Sony players. If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutBucket Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Yeah, I have an MZ-R900 on my desk;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolbo Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 no they didn't (don't even think they had digital amps back then), all the greats used tubes, because they are clean so it's harder to "fake" what your playing. Don't get me wrong , you can distort the hell out of them to. What i was getting at is the new aged drop D style (detune your guitar so you only need to really play 3 strings, therefor your album will probably consist of no more then 3 chords played in various patterns, but hey , if people buy it, do it, im not hating). If you listen to brassy music a tube amp (in car or home) would be a bad choice, just stick with mainstream digital amps for mainstream music. First, drop D tuning has nothing to do with how many strings you play. It's common from vintage Neil Young songs to current country music. It has the effect of lowering the lowest (fattest) string down a whole step from E for a lower range (typically the songs for drop D tuning would be in D as well). Often, the High E is dropped down to D as well. But this has nothing to do with how many suitable strings are available for playing. Second, Tube amps: They weren't used in the old days because they were cleaner and it was harder to fake music. They used them, as was alluded to, because solid state was not available or it didn't sound good. Everything was tube and everybody used them to a point. When solid state state circuitry became available, folks used them as well. Tubes do sound warmer, and give the guitarist more control over distortion. You can not use dynamics in the same manner with solid state as tube. Meaning, if you turn the guitar volume down on your guitar (while it is turned up for lots of gain on the tube amp) you can lessen the amount of distortion. Conversely, if you do this with a solid state amp, your volume will drop but you have less control over minimizing distortion. The ability to 'fake' (in distorted music) would simply come from having over the top distortion, which could be had in those days (but to a lesser extent, without huge volume) and now. Both tube and solid state amps of today allow high over drive and thereby, smooth sounding distortion that sort of covers up un-clean playing. Third, I'll allow a real music engineer to reply on this but: If you look at 1) music from the era of say, Sinatra, you will see that the recordings were made with a tube amp(s) in the chain. Tube has nothing to do with just one style of music, it has to do with a choice (if there is one) of how to get power, typically, to something. 2) If you listen to the horns in those recordings, you will not be disappointed except for the limitations of other recording factors. Today, many studios utilize tube pre-amps or amps whether it be just for a specific vocal or what have you, even though their set up my be digital. They deliver, all things being equal, a warmer sound than solid state, and it may be imperceptible to some, but...there is some very expensive professional studio equipment out there for those who need the warmth of tubes, whether it be for one instrument or the general process. All this doesn't mean that tubes are right for every application. Even with guitar music, there are times when someone might prefer the colder/straighter,tighter sound of a solid state amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John M Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 And I don't see a need to bash Panasonic either. Their equipment is fine -- I'll bet you can't tell a difference in a blind listening test. $1k is a little steep but I don't see anybody else making that product. Brand snobbery always makes me laugh. It's like eople who have Eclipse in their car don't want to admit it's just a Toyota factory radio (Eclipse = Fugitsu Ten = Toyota stock radio) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Th3Franz Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Even though it's tube amp, everything is still crammed into that unit, so it's going to have a higher THD than an external tube amp anyway. A friend of mine has a US Amps tube amp in his car.. sounds awesome. -Franz The end of a Legacy http://www.youtube.com/th3franz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rony Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I have this feeling that it's not a tube power amp, but a tube pre amp. Typically, high end head units do not have on board power amplifiers. My McIntosh MX406 didn't have a on board and it was almost $1000. Only pre-amp out BABY!!! My Car vBGarage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 23, 2005 Author Share Posted June 23, 2005 I have this feeling that it's not a tube power amp, but a tube pre amp. Typically, high end head units do not have on board power amplifiers. My McIntosh MX406 didn't have a on board and it was almost $1000. Only pre-amp out BABY!!! Nope its a true tube amp 45RMS x 4ch If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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