I knew something had to be "cooking" (or freezing). I wonder if my sending that note to Chip-Con did anything?
I remember mentioning my wanting to design a Vaccum-tube, sound-card. Audiophile tyoe, using Burr-Brown DAC's, Vishay-resistors, Rel-Cap's, Cardas wiring, etc. I used to a die-hard Audiophile (hence my username, before I became disabled = financially indigent) anyway I've had $10K tube-amps. And that's just the Amps. The interconnects alone can cost $300 for a half-meter pair! They often use pure-silver, point to point wiring; the philosophy being "anything unnecessary in the signal path has the propensity to distort sound." Hence the Futterman transformerless tube-amps I had too. Mate them with a $4K pair of Apogee Stage mylar/planar speakers and you have a sound-stage where you can tell the dimensions (reflections off walls) of the recording studio, literally. Reading Stereophile Magazine's reviews, you'll often hear them saying their listening room walls "disappeared into the soundstage, and the room opened-up". I used to have a pair of Pro-ac repsonse speakers and Cary SLA-70 stereo-tube Amp, with a Meirdian transport, and seperate DAC, I could hear saliva on Joni Mitchell's lips!
Oh I digress AGAIN. Anyway after sending someone in the "business" that suggestion, 8 months later AOpen announces their on-board tube-staged Motherboard. And wouldn't you know it, it used Cardas wiring, Vishay resistors, Rel Cap's, and a Sovtek tube??? Lesson, have confidence you-too can apply for a Patent.
I hope it's Nanotherm who releases it. Sound's like your company aspires to be more then another "thermal goop" maker.
