The Samsung Audio Dock’s hybrid amp system combines digital amplification with vacuum tubes. The 2.1-channel speaker comes with a built-in subwoofer and produces 100 watts of sound. It has USB and analog audio inputs, support for AllShare, AirPlay and Bluetooth wireless audio streaming, and the dock is capable of accepting either iOS or Samsung Galaxy devices.

The DA-E750 is the flagship model, but there’s a 40-Watt DA-E670 model as well, which skips the fancy vacuum tube setup, and looks nearly as good. Pricing and a release date has yet to be announced.

While digital technology is great, we all know that analog components have a certain warmth and depth of sound that is hard to replicate. This is one of the good reasons why there are some nice vacuum tube amp kits available out there, and they promise to outperform their digital counterparts while costing a fraction of the price.

All in all, this looks incredibly cool and I’d to see either a kit or a pre-assembled version of this for sale, if the sound is as good as it’s supposed to be. For now, all we have is this cool one-of-a-kind prototype.

[via Yanko Design]

Peter Hand’s IV-17 Four Letter Word Generator kit comes pre-loaded with a dictionary of 5,400 words (there are some acronyms, and proper nouns in there too). Actually, I lied. It does more than one thing. It can also tell the time – but that’s not nearly as much fun as the seemingly endless list of words like BITS, LOFT, LAVA, and MAPS which rotate on the four Russian IV-17 VFD tubes.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And if you’re wondering if it knows profanities, indeed it does. But there is a setting which lets you disable or enable an NSFW filter (I wonder if “NSFW” is one of the words on the list).

You can get your hands on a pre-assembled version of the kit for $120 (USD), and details on how to order one should be available over at WongAttitude “real soon now.”

[via Tube Clock DB (thanks for the tip, Brian!)]

Jason put together this clock in about 4 months. He built it around a retro Russian IV-18 Nixie tube. As inspiration, he cites Adafruit’s Ice Tube Clock, but didn’t like its acrylic enclosure. He decided to improve upon it and credits John Pfeiffer for the design of the enclosure.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The enclosure itself is great. It reminds me of some Apple computers, because of the perforated metal grills that are used in it.

I think that this clock simply look amazing. I’d love to have one in my bedroom or near my workstation.

[via Make]

Created by Japan’s Hanwha, the tube look-a-like speaker plugs into the USB port and audio jack on your computer, and lights up in a cool blue when powered on. Now don’t expect tube-amp quality sound from this thing – it only cranks out an anemic 0.35W per channel, and frequency range is spec’d at just 100Hz to 10kHz. Hoo-boy. I think my old Sony Walkman can do more than that through its headphones. Good thing it only costs ¥2,280 (appx. $25 USD).

So now that I’ve got you all excited to buy one,  you’ll have to head on over to Japan’s Rakuten if you want one of these. I think I’ll stick with my slightly less crappy computer speakers for now.

[via AV Watch]

The T-2 has a stereo output of 20 W. It connects to your players via gold-plated RCA jacks as well as USB, and its speaker connectors are gold plated as well. The T-2 also has a headphone jack, so you can enjoy the concert quality audio and go deaf in style. An integrated “Slow Power On” feature preserves the life of the amp’s parts by – wait for it – dary. I meant by forcing the amp to power up slowly.

The T-2′s steel cover and side panels are actually removable, so you can stare at the tubes unimpeded if you wish.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can read the rest of the specs and also purchase the T-2 at Neuhaus’ website. The amp sells for $795 (USD). Analog ain’t cheap.

[via Uncrate]

The Arch Audio T2 radio combines the warm analog sounds of a tube-based amplifier with the modern digital sounds of MP3 and WMA files. The radio features a beautiful retro-inspired case, but is timeless enough to blend into any 21st century decor.

Just plug your SD/MMC or USB flash drive into the front of the T2 radio and you’ll be listening to your latest digital tracks. If you’re feeling more analog, of course, there’s built-in AM and FM tuners, controlled by a nifty orange backlit manual dial to remind you of the olden days of radio. While the T2 has a beefy (for its size) 15-watt output and a ported MDF-construction speaker enclosure for some extra low-end, the downside is that it’s only got a single (two-way) speaker – so no stereo for you!

Arch Audio also includes a wireless remote that lets you adjust volume, bass and treble, change tracks and flip between inputs (and yes, there’s an AUX input too). This definitely isn’t your grandpa’s old Zenith.

While this unusual radio is made in China, and I discovered it over on a Korean website, the good news is that I managed to find a handful for sale over on eBay. At $339 (USD) they’re not cheap (especially since they sell for about $125 in Korea), but at least the guys selling them are including free shipping to the U.S. for that price. You’ll also need to keep in mind that the T2 runs on 220-volt power, so you’ll need ask the seller for a step-down adapter if you want to use one on 110-volts.

[via Early Adopter]

The machine, which was constructed from fluorescent vacuum tubes, also tells time. Just in case you want it to do something slightly less hypnotic but more useful. It is the opposite of cheap at $125, but if you are one of the twelve people with money to burn in this economy, and you’re like me, you might just find this hilariously random and therefore awesome.

The four-letter word generator is available from koolatron’s Etsy site.

What we actually have here is a very rare Russian relic from the early 1980s. The Elektronika-7 (Электроника-7) clock was built using vacuum tubes, not LEDs to drive its unique bluish-green display.

The old industrial clock uses 16 segmented tubular vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) to form its digits.

This extreme rarity can be yours if you manage to score the winning bid in the next few hours (currently at $150 plus shipping). Check out the auction over on eBay for more details.