Чудо было выпущено десять лет назад фирмой AOpen, модель AX4B-533 Tube. На плате был установлен один двойной триод Sovtek 6922, как легко догадаться из названия, российского производства.
На плате модели AOpen AX4GE Tube-G была, кроме радиолампы, установлена примочка под названием Bluetouch - 8 ставших тогда модными синих светодиодов. Их единственной функцией было сделать красиво:
Народу понравилось:
The Bluetouch basically is a series of 8 blue LEDs that surround the vacuum tube onboard the motherboard, creating some pretty neat visual effects. It's a nice thing to show off if you have a window in your case. There is not much functionality to it, but it is quite visually appealing.
A вот плата с шестиканальным звуком 5.1, на трёх двойных триодах:
Но самое главное, что народу понравился ТЛЗ™:
My first reaction to the TubeSound audio was the fullness of the tone as well as the more realistic nature of the audio. I did notice that certain supporting instruments in the midrange aren't brought out as nicely and tend to get overpowered by other tones. Despite this the sound from the tubsound output is richer and blends much better in comparison to the solid state output. The bass on the TubeSound isn't nearly as powerful as the traditional output, but the beat was much more crisp and less distorted. In gaming, the TubeSound added an additional aspect of realism, but the difference wasn't as distinct as I noticed while listening to music. I noticed that the TubeSound especially shined in songs featuring guitars, with each note sounding incredibly realistic without any of the "tin can" sensation that can be found in certain recordings. In piano music, the TubeSound really brought out the force behind each note, sounding closer and closer to a live real piano. When I switched over to songs featuring female vocals, I was really amazed at the depth of the audio.
Источники: раз. два и три.
