A number of persons motivated, inspired, helped, and supported me during the preparation of this book. It is a pleasure and an honour to me to feel obliged to thank them.
I would like to start with Fabrizio, who first introduced me in the world of vacuum tube amplifiers. Sandro, whose picky attention to details prevented me from being too much inaccurate. When you write a book, you have an ideal reader in your mind. He is my ideal reader. Sandro also gave me the picture I used in the book cover.
I would like to especially thank my wife Giuseppina, for her patience, when I am completely captured by the enthusiasm of building vacuum tube amplifiers, and her inspirational support while writing this book. She is always positively unpredictable and capable of silently surprising me. I give a special acknowledge to my two sons Niccoló and Giacomo. They used to listen to music from their mobile phones and to make fun of me, when I was hypnotically listening to my music from my audio system. Eventually, they are able to distinguish between high- and low-quality audio systems and admit that listening to good music played by a good audio system is much better.
My mother Maria who, as a stereotypical Italian mum, is convinced and continuously tries to convince me as well, that I am the smartest, the cleverest, or simply said, the best. So, you would agree that this book is predestined to be the best book on vacuum tube amplifiers.
Last, I want to thank my dad Nicola. He, very recently, passed away. He taught me that there is not limit in what you can achieve when you are resolute. He introduced me to the philosophy of the “Do It Yourself”, even if not applied to audio systems, and he silently transferred to me his enthusiasm and skills in finding solutions to any practical problems. Thanks dad!
