Audio power amplifier inside the chassis of the main product. The audio amplifier was invented around 1912 by Lee De Forest, made possible by his invention of the first practical amplifying electrical component, the triode vacuum tube (or "valve" in British English) in 1907. The triode was a three terminal device with a control grid that can modulate the flow of electrons from the filament to the plate. The triode vacuum amplifier was used to make the first AM radio. Early audio power amplifiers were based on vacuum tubes and some of these achieved notably high audio quality (e.g., the Williamson amplifier of
Zone valve spring but can be opened by the force of the wax motor. Removal of electrical power re-closes the valve. This style of zone valve operates with a perfectly ordinary SPST thermostat. For vacuum- or pneumatically operated zone valves, the thermostat usually switches the pressure or vacuum on or off, causing a spring-loaded rubber diaphragm to move and actuate the valve. Unlike the electrical zone valves, these valves automatically return to the default position without the application of any power, and the default position is usually "open", allowing heat to flow. Highly sophisticated systems may use some form of building automation