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 I read all the books and magazines I could find on the subject, and there are plenty of them.

 I got seriously interested in the theory of valve design and operation, including what it would take to build Spice models. I wrote a long article summarising the theory from a modern, audio perspective.

 Take a look at my systems.

 Suppliers for valve and audiophile components.

My Hi-Fi Systems

I love this system and the Atma-Sphere amplifiers. It is incredibly involving. The Theta Data/X-DAC combination is very sweet and lives up to expectations, although dealing with the Audio Crafters Guild requires a lot of patience.

I built this system for someone in my family, but things didn't work out so it is not currently in use. I like the Laurel a lot, although in the end I find the Golden Tube SE40SE more transparent. The AN pre-amp is not a success. It has a strange boominess in the bass, although this doesn't show up in measurements. As built, with Ei tubes, it is unbelievably microphonic, and has cheap, nasty industrial elctrolytics in the signal path (plate decoupling caps - some may not consider these in the signal path but believe me, they are). I have the parts to do a major upgrade to the caps and put some decent (Mullard) valves in it, which may make it better if/when I get round to it.

What I'm listening to now is:

• The Hi-Fi World KLPP1, still hevaily tweaked
• Atma-Sphere M60s, by now very heavily tweaked, including all the recommended factory upgrades as well as increased gain stage B+ voltage (600V) and current (7mA per phase) and 6BX7 driver to the output stage.
• Classe CDP-5 CD Player
• Resolution Epic speakers
• Nottingham Analogue Hyperdeck with Nottingham Analogue arm and Benz Glider cartridge
• Solid silver interconnect and speaker cables, with PTFE insulation

These are the suppliers of systems and electronic components that I have dealt with in putting all this together.

Systems

• The London system comes from The Audio Consultants. This is a small outfit in North London (Camden Town) specialising in valve systems and also leaning heavily towards vinyl. The owner, Stephen Harper (no relation), keeps a good selection of valve amplifiers and preamps, as well as CD players, speakers (valve friendly, naturally) and vinyl players, the latter mainly from Nottingham Analogue. I would strongly recommend them for anyone interested in buying valve equipment: call them on (+44) (0)171 380 0866.
• Another London dealer that merits honourable mention is Hi Fi Experience in Tottenham Court Road (TCR), the heart of the West End. As a recent Stereophile article pointed out, TCR is mainly full of large, noisy shops selling low- to mid-range music systems by the truckload. Hi Fi Experience is the exception. Located in a basement, they have several good listening rooms (disturbed only by the passage of trains on the Northern Line) with a wide range of mid- to high-end equipment. I found them helpful and auditioned quite a few silicon amps before deciding to go for a valve system.   Find them at 227 Tottenham Court Road, London W1, (+44) (0)171 580 3535.

Audiophile Components

• Handmade Electronics have an excellent selection, all described on their web pages, including silver wire at a very good price, a good selection of Hammond transformers and chokes, a nice range of capacitors including Relcap Teflon and Cerafine, and a good selection of Holcos. They accept orders by e-mail (with a credit card), and give prompt service. Strongly recommended.
• Audio Links is a UK supplier from whom I have bought quite a lot. He has some very nice hard silver wire (a delight to work with and ideal for making up cables, although significantly more expensive than from Handmade). His service is excellent, but he doesn't take credit cards and is therefore awkward to deal with if you are outside the UK. He is at 7 Fairmont Crescent, Scunthorpe DN16 1EL, UK, phone/fax (+44) (0)1724 870432.
• Welborne Labs are best known for their kits (such as the Laurel 300B stereo amp which I built), but they also have a good range of components. Their catalogue is not available on-line.
• Michael Percy has a tremendous selection of audiophile parts, better than anyone else I have seen. For example, he keeps the full range of RelCaps, even 1uF 200V Teflon if you don't mind spending $160 on a capacitor. Unfortunately he does not take credit cards - which is a problem if you don't.have a US bank account. He is at 11731 Stillwater Creek Road, Nevada City CA 95959, (+1) 530 470 8650, fax (+1) 530 470 8651.
• RS Components aren't specifically an audiophile supplier, but rather a general supplier to the electronics trade. Their six-volume catalogue (all available on-line) covers far more than just electronics: tools, pneumatics, office supplies, metalwork... it goes on and on. They are mainly oriented to company buying, but I believe they will now supply individuals. They have subsidiaries throughout Europe; I have bought a lot from RS France, but beware that the subsidiaries have their own catalogues and their own part numbers. Mostly they carry a smaller range, but there are some surprises, for example RS France carry mercury-wetted relays that aren't available in the UK.
• And of course Maplin, the best known "hobby" electronic supplier in the UK. As well as a decent range of general components and semiconductors (though not audiophile stuff) they also sell some valve amplifier kiits which have had good reviews.

Valves (or Tubes)

• Ned Carlson (Triode Electronics) is a well-known figure, with a big range of new and NOS tubes. He gives excellent service, and his ever-expanding web site is full of information.
• In the UK, Wilson Valves has a very wide range, especially of European types (the only supplier I have found for the ECC84 and ECC85 used in the Leak Troughline, for example). He takes credit cards, and can be found at 28 Banks Avenue, Golcar, Huddersfield HD7 4LZ, UK, phone (+44) (0) 1484 654650, fax (+44) (0) 1484 655699.
• New Sensor are the distributors of Sovtek (in fact, they own the brand: Sovtek is sourced from a variety of factories in Russia and the former Soviet Union), and also have a lot of military-surplus. If you buy large quantities, you can get a trade account with favourable pricing.
• PM Components are the people behind the Golden Dragon brand. They very kindly supplied me with a boxful of dead power tubes (300B, 2A3, 845, etc) for my vivisection experiments: Selectron House, Springhead Enterprise Park, Gravesend, DA11 8HD, UK, phone (+44) (0) 1474 333762, fax (+44) (0) 1474 560521.