Sonatron amplifier with colored tubes
date: label: date made
content: 1924
name: label: maker
content: Sonatron Tube Company
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: A resistance-coupled audio amplifier designed to replace transformer coupled stages in a broadcast receiver, or to operate as a straight audio amplifier following a standard detector. The manufacturer supplied a type MJ-X6 (red) tube, a type MJ-X30 (silver) tube, and a type MJ-X20 (blue) tube. Tube designation denotes amplification factor. Includes original package and instruction booklet.
label: Description (Brief)
content: Transformer coupling in audio amplifiers was introduced by De Forest as early as 1912. The simplicity in design of such units led to their popularity during the 1920s. However factors such as bulkiness and poor frequency response eventually led to resistance coupled units. With the advent of high gain tetrode and pentode tube types, transformer coupling became generally obsolete with the exception of impedance matching transformers in the audio output stage of receivers.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Franklin Wingard
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.321490
label: catalog number
content: 321490
label: accession number
content: 241556
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Amplifier
label: Object Name
content: amplifier kit
label: Object Name
content: radio amplifier
label: Object Name
content: audio amplifier
label: Other Terms
content: Amplifier; Radio
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: box: 2 1/2 in x 9 7/8 in x 8 5/8 in; 6.35 cm x 25.0825 cm x 21.9075 cm