[sdiy] Sony C800 peltier effect

[Lanterman, Aaron]

I realize this is far afield from synthesizers, but there's so many knowledgable people on this list I felt compelled to seek the combined wisdom here.

There's this super-expensive microphone called the Sony C800G, which has a peltier effect cooling mechanism along with this funky cooling heat sink to keep the tube... cool?

No matter how I think about it I can't seem to make using this peltier effect make any sense. Cooling things in general could result in less noise, but I can't imagine that it's less by very much. And around the 20 minute mark of this video on condenser mikes, one of the guys at the whiteboard mentions some positive aspects of keeping the mic warm to eliminate humidity (although I can't imagine that's a large effect either), which would suggest *not* wanting to cool it.

Maybe it somehow preserved the life of the tube? But what's the point if it's a $10K mic anyway?

Searches on forums like gearslutz has yielded some statements of questionable scientific accuracy, so I figured I'd ask here. ;)

I do wonder if say this peltier thing could be used to make lower noise preamps in general. But it just doesn't make sense to me with the tube thing going on. 

- Aaron