SYLVANIA valves labeled Baldwin
Who was SYLVANIA:
Sylvania Electronics of Emporium, Pennsylvania, was the second largest manufacturer of receiving tubes and arch-rival to R.C.A.
As with most of the group from "New Jersey", Sylvania began its business in the light bulb sector. It was precisely the manufacturers of incandescent bulbs that had the skills and experience in glass processing, metallurgy and high vacuum, necessary to make thermionic tubes. Like the rest of the New Jersey group, Sylvania sought and retained the most qualified men and women in the market, including former Edison employees. They also attracted Roger T. Wise in 1927, RCA's chief tube engineer for seven years. This event was a real showpiece for Sylvania and the event was reportedly heralded with much fanfare. It's hard to say for sure why he did this, but he moved into the Emporium and built a nice house 5 months before taking up his post in Sylvania, which suggests that part of the reason for the change was that he just wanted to get out of smoke and noise of NJ to start his new life with family. He was having his first child and the Sylvania plant was nestled in the beautiful rolling wooded hills outside Emporium, Pennsylvania, a point that was always emphasized in their recruiting efforts. One of Sylvania's main philosophies was to use the highest quality materials possible, and they were very good at sourcing this. They were so good that by 1948 they became the largest supplier of getters, wires and other internal components for tubes in the industry. Their getters were so good that they were used by most of the major American tube manufacturers and their wire was good enough to be used extensively in Western Electric tubes! This emphasis on materials and employees had a tangible result in the final product. Even to the casual observer, the Sylvania tubes simply oozed an intrinsic beauty with their large, sweeping, mirror-finished getters and, often, very high quality micas.
Tonally, the SYLVANIA double triodes (12AX7, etc..) are responsive, detailed, dynamic and musical. Highs and mids are sweet, warm and never fatiguing, tonally balanced across the entire frequency range. The sound is lively, detailed, defined high end, a bit holographic with medium forward. Nice soundstage, extended and powerful bass, in general very funny and pleasant. They deserve to be heard.
Who Baldwin was:
Baldwin's origins date back to 1857, when Dwight Hamilton Baldwin began teaching piano, organ and violin in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1862, Baldwin started a piano dealership Decker Brothers and, in 1866, hired Lucien Wulsin as a clerk. Wulsin became a partner in the dealership, then known as DH Baldwin & Company, in 1873, and under his leadership, the Baldwin Company became the largest piano dealer in the Midwestern United States by 1890.
In 1889 -1890, Baldwin vowed to build "the best piano that could be built" and subsequently formed two manufacturing companies: Hamilton Organ, which built reed organs, and the Baldwin Piano Company, which manufactured pianos. The company's first piano, an upright, began shipping in 1891. The company introduced its first grand piano in 1895.
Baldwin died in 1899 and left the vast majority of his estate to fund missionary causes.
Wulsin eventually bought Baldwin's ownership and continued the company's transition from retail to manufacturing.The company won its first major prize in 1900, when the 112 model won the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, the first American-made piano to win such an award. Baldwin-produced pianos also won top prizes at Louisiana Purchase Exposition and at the Anglo-American Exposition of 1914.
After the war ended, Baldwin resumed selling pianos, and by 1953 the company had doubled production figures from pre-war levels.
In 1946, Baldwin introduced its first electronic organ (developed in 1941), which was so successful that the company changed its name to Baldwin Piano & Organ Company. For the prestige of the brand, he decided to imprint his brand on the valves used in his equipment and commissioned some of the greatest manufacturers of the time (RAYTHEON, SYLVANIA, RCA, Japanese MATSUSHITA, etc ...) with valves labeled Baldwin Pianos - Organs .