Do new theremins use tubes?

I guess the vintage RCA used tubes? Are theremins even made like that  now? Amps can be solid state or have tubes. Tubes provide a warmth and a certain color. And there are digital theremins. Was wondering if those analog rRCA theremins had a certain distinctive sound because of employing tubes. I know tubes
We’re widely used in many things back in the day. Hammond organs and Leslie’s. Guitar amps. Etc.  In contemporary times how different are the components
That are used? Thanks

Vacuum tubes do add a quality to theremin sound difficult to achieve in solid state. Tell me if this theremin sound sample is tube, transistor or digital. Everyone here knows the answer. This theremin you hear now resides in St. Petersburg, Russia

The ideal theremin has not yet arrived.

sound sample

Christopher

I have synthesizers that are samplebased  PCM. And of course a moog voyager and a sequential PRO 3. The  voyager isanalog the pro 3 is analog hybrid  they both have three oscillators.  The pro3 uses two voltage controlled oscillators and one wavetable oscillator. The moog voyager uses three voltage controlled
Oscillators. Diigital sample based synths emulate acoustic instruments well. I have physical modeling analog synths they sound good but I can tell the difference sonically. I have a real grand piano . I can hear the difference in tone. Digtal sampling truncates the values so it can be stored in binary hence digtal 
Gets rid of harmonics and alters the harmonic series. The great thing about a digtal sample is that it doesn’t drift out of tune. The bad thing is that it is a compromise sonically.I prefer the sound of true analog and real acoustics. Its cheaperto make a digital synth with more polyphony  than it would be if it was analog. And you can get digtal synths with a very high polyphony count. Though an 8 voice analog poly synth sounds massive. I prefer VCOs to DCOs
DCOs we’re invented to help analog poly synths stay in tune. DCOs are analog they just are clocked digitally if I remember right. It’s pretty complicated I’m 
Just  conveying what I read it gets pretty technical. A real Hammond tonewheel organ sounds great.  Sample based organs sound good enough to replace the real thing. I can hear a difference though. I have real hammonds and Leslie’s. Thier like real analog synths. The newer technology try’s to recreate the sound of the old technology. They even have circuits now that model and behave like older circuits that they emulate. It’s also about cost and also it’s a lot easier to transport a tonewheel organ clone then it is to transport a real Hammond and I even have a chopped C3.  I use a Yamaha cp300 because it’s Rhodes emulation is so good and don’t have all the hassle that comes with a real Rhodes like the maintenance. The best digtal hybrid piano I have ever played is the Yamaha avant- grand. Tuning a real piano is expensive as is the maintenance.  There’s nothing like the real thing so I see your point and hear your point.

Happy Holidays – you did not answer my question . . . you being a sound master.

Where are you located, it helps others to know and give advice.

Christopher

I believe it’s a tube one. My point is that it could be hard to tell. If I’m in a room close to the sound source I might hear subtle differences in harmonics or even it’s gain. My moog voyager can get very load louder than my physical modeling synths. It’s gain is different and is hotter. I haven’t had much experience in listening to the different types of theremins. Everyone hears different.
I’ve listened to comparisons of softsynths emulating a Minimoog compared to a real one. Where I hear a difference might be in the filter. The software synths are getting better all the time. Ten years ago when I first started using them they sounded good. I think thier even better now. I was hired to play on an album and the person that hired wanted to use a vst Rhodes but I insisted on bring my hardware keyboard. It wasn’t a real Rhodes it was a Yamaha cp300 stage piano that I use one of the presets that is a Rhodes electric piano. The reason I don’t like to use software vst is because it lags sometimes. I’m a jazz piano player and I use syncopation aka swing when I solo or comp. It’s a jazz thing but the feel is real important. I don’t think I’m a soundmaster all due respect. It’s also hard to tell on the internet or utube because audio is compressed sometimes. And analog tape sounds different than digtal recording. Digtal clips I think at zero DB. Those recordings in the 70s of guitars being recorded to tape had natural compression because its the way tape reacts and they could hit it real hard .  Digital doesn’t act the same way. I’m really just a acoustic jazz piano  and I play synths, like them for thier ability to get different timbres. The  piano can get different timbres with the various pedals and the way you use keyboard technique.I’m in the USA

I think folks undertake tube Theremin design and construction in an effort to be as close to its origins as possible, to gain experience with tubes, to gain cred in audiophile circles, for bragging rights in Theremin circles, etc.  But tubes are hot, so a tube Theremin might take a while to thermally stabilize enough to play.  And they are fragile, require heavy chassis and transformers, and need large heavy enclosures and stuff, so portability definitely takes a massive hit.  You can get pretty much the same experience without all the downsides via a solid state Theremin.  There's a reason you don't encounter a tube tester down at the corner drugstore anymore.

Seqpro3 said: "I believe it’s a tube one. My point is that it could be hard to tell."

The correct answer is solid state.

The Theremin Phenomenon is about capturing a wonder of Nature. My simple analog design shown here uses only two transistors and special knowledge. Hopefully the new generation will re-discover the beauty of analog. 

Performance by Valery Shamarin of St Petersburg Russia 2020

Christopher

I would think it would be expensive. I wish I knew enough to build  a analog synth.   And to think how far synths have come from the RCA synth at Princeton that Milton Babbitt used.