Editing Vacuum tube (section)

===In music===
{{Main|Tube sound}}
[[File:SE-300B-70W.jpg|thumb|right|70-watt tube-hybrid [[audio amplifier]]]]

Tube amplifiers remain commercially viable in three niches where their warm sound, performance when overdriven, and ability to replicate prior-era tube-based recording are prized: [[audiophile]] equipment, musical instrument amplifiers, and devices used in recording studios.<ref>{{cite news|title=The cool sound of tubes – vacuum tube musical applications|last=Barbour|first=E.|journal=IEEE Spectrum|volume=35|number=8|pages=24–35|date=1998|publisher=IEEE|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-cool-sound-of-tubes|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104040533/https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/audiovideo/the-cool-sound-of-tubes|archive-date=4 January 2012}}</ref>

Many guitarists prefer using [[valve amplifier]]s to solid-state models, often due to the way they tend to distort when overdriven.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keeports |first1=David |title=The warm, rich sound of valve guitar amplifiers |journal=Physics Education |date=9 February 2017 |volume=52 |issue=2 |page=025010 |doi=10.1088/1361-6552/aa57b7|bibcode=2017PhyEd..52b5010K |s2cid=21531107 }}</ref> Any amplifier can only accurately amplify a signal to a certain volume; past this limit, the amplifier will begin to distort the signal. Different circuits will distort the signal in different ways; some guitarists prefer the distortion characteristics of vacuum tubes. Most popular vintage models use vacuum tubes.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

A UK company, Blackburn MicroTech Solutions, developed radically different versions of standard tubes for the audiophile market. Instead of using a tubular construction with radial electron flow, the design was planar. The first product was the E813CC double triode, interchangeable with the ECC83. However, the company failed in 2009, a few months after introducing the E813CC.<ref>{{cite web | last=Roberts | first=Neville | title=The TechTube Blackburn E813CC: A New Approach to Tube Design | website=audioXpress |orig-date=Republished, with notes on the company failure, on 6 May 2020|date=November 2009| url=https://audioxpress.com/article/the-techtube-blackburn-e813cc-a-new-approach-to-tube-design}}</ref>