ON-CHIP VACUUM MICROTRIODE

Yes, well, that's what I meant except I allowed there might be a laboratory somewhere with a device I've never heard of.

Agreed.

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Non-tech here- Interestingly, my ears came to much the same conclusion in the stomp box department where distortion is concerned...I have three;

1. Radial Engineering's Tonebone Classic (12AX7 tube).
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2. Fulltone Full Drive 2
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1. Fulltone GT-500
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The Fulltone boxes, while *excellent*, took a back seat to the tube- based Tonebone. To my ear at least, tube driven, even-ordered harmonics beats assymetrical clipping in the subtle / cool / blues rock distortion game.

At the end of the mainstream tube era in 1960 they pharnarcled around with nuvistors which were mini triodes and pentodes not much bigger than a pea and with legs solderable into a board. They were exactly what the Navy and Airforce needed in 1960 because atomic blasts didn't affect them much.

Unfortunately, the linearity of such devices wasn't as good as a 6SN7, and for audio purposes they had not much advantage despite the boffins saying they had a good figure of merit; ie, high gm and high bandwidth.

I don't actually know if chipped triodes were ever made by anyone. Compactrons were the nearest thing, with say 3 valves within the one tube envelope...

Did the Russians ever develop glass cips full of triodes?

I doubt they would have had an advantage because all R&C would have to be external to the chip so you'd have dense wiring with longish leads all around the glass chip...

And if one triode in say 20 in the "chip" failed, you have to chuck the lot out.

The solid state chips which came out in the 60s were ever so effective and reliable!!

Patrick Turner.

"Patrick Turner" ...

Sometimes the resistors and capacitors were inside making it a real "integrated circuit". E.g.: P.H. Brans Radio Tube Vademecum, 6th ed, 1946: one tube (WG33) has two triodes, one beam tetrode, 3 caps, 6 resistors, 10 pins outside.

See also:

Arie.