personally, I find it helps to sound convincing, even if I don't really remember :D

In RCA Parlance, New Vista was the introduction of a new CRT with a sharper, brighter picture and that hot Nuvistor equipped tuner. Also, this line was the first hybrid RCA TV sets and early transistor sets.

Getting back to the subject at hand, Steve D. hit the nail on the head.

Audio people like Nuvistors for microphone and phono (record turntable) preamps, IIRC less "microphonic".

I've heard that compactrons had shiny insides to the plates, to reflect some of the infra-red heat radiation back to the cathode, thus allowing the use of a little less heater power.

Very interesting.

I've always wondered why battery radio tubes (1R5, 1U4, 1U5, 3V4, etc) have shiny plates.