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Tube Equipment: Gimmick?

I recently had a mechanical engineer (who has no interest in audio equipment or the industry) express amazement when I told him about the high prices of tube gear. His amazement, he said, stemmed from the fact that tubes are antiquated gear, incapable of separating signals the way (what we call "solid state") equipment can.

In essence, he said tubes could never be as accurate as SS gear, even at the height of the technology's maturity. This seems substantiated by the high-dollar tube gear I've heard - many of the things that many here love so much about the "tube sound" are wonderful - but to my ears, not true to the recording, being either too "bloomy" in the vocal range or too "saturated" throughout, if that makes any sense.

I have limited experience with tubes, so my questions are: what is the attraction of tubes, and when we talk about SS gear, do we hit a point where the equipment is so resolving that it makes listening to music no fun? Hmmm..or maybe being *too* accurate is the reason folks turn from SS to tubes?

Thanks in advance for the thoughts!
aggielaw
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,781 posts
 
If you "un-jumble" Jiwitn it's almost "nitwit"... (the Devil made me do it!)
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Gunbei, ya got that? Slappy's next in line! He'll be a tough nut to crack cause he's onto all this horse shit big time! He must be silenced.....with extreme prejudice! It was only a matter of time before my faithful servant turned against me!

Marco

PS In all ernest, I do think the very first response to this thread by Amandarae is an excellent answer to the query. Bravo! I could not have said it better myself. If I weren't so full of piss and vinegar I wouldn't even bother responding! Like much of the crap that passes for intellegent discussion of 'important' matters on this and other product-oriented sites it is an endless thread of big boys/big toys, my tool's bigger than yours, my car goes faster.....I am beyond reproach, just a tier below God herself. Validate me and I will be your friend forever and will welcome you into to the kingdom of the wonderful world of ME where all the cars are very fast, all tools are huge, and the music sounds like angels are right smack dab there in front of you! My world that is....or you can just stay where you are and always settle for second-best. You decide!
g_m_c
443 posts
 
Are tubes are to hardware as vinyl is to source?

I am sure the same engineer would trash analog.

I am just an old fool, with my tubes and vinyl.

A happy old fool.
distortion
571 posts
 
I am really enjoying my tube output CDP. But, I do have a SS outboard DAC and SS Pre/Pro with its own DAC, so I have a selection. I find myself "selecting" the tubes more often than not.

For me, with some recordings the "mellower" and less "forward" sound of the tube just sounds more "right." This is all very subjective of course.

"KRELL RULES!!! CONSEQUENTLY, TUBES DROOL!!!"

Really, thats too bad. Such immaturity ruins your previously well stated argument. Although, it is easier to change a tube than change your speaker.
warnerwh
539 posts
 
I believe I read that John Curl said that tubes are more linear than transistors. Transistors are not superior in every way, especially if you want music to sound real. Van Alstine will also tell you why he uses tubes in the input stage of his power amps on his webpage, because they do some things better than transistors. The Audio Research tube preamp I use helped more than I could ever have imagined, even using a Krell pre.
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