Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?

It is basically a preamp tube, very small directly heated wire cathode so that will have to be DC driven. The gain in circuit is 3.5 where a 12AX7 is typically 50. The max gains are 5 and 100 respectively.

Output distorts badly at 1 volt out and there is little current. I can’t imagine this entering any high end audio circuits, though it will be fun for the guitar players as it distorts and lights up.