Tubes do make a noticeable difference,and even the difference between UL and triode can be very different and we could go into an amp being anolitical or even very warm.
And once more I was painting with to broad a brush to make a finer point.So thanks for calling me on it.
My point was simply this,to meany times I have seen people attack a major problem by making changes to everything but the problem.
for example.
1.A guy gets a very forward and bright pair of horn speakers and changes interconnects,speaker cables and then moves all the furniture in his house then covers the place with room treatments, then finality after a year of changing everything else decides the problem is actually the speakers.
Always start with the most likely link in the chain for example if you never had the problem before,what was the last thing you added or changed?
Sound simple? for some it is not,they want the new componate to work so badly they will exhaust every possible avenue.
When all else fails, reason comes on like a bad hang over and they admit they chose crap.And all the cables and clip on devices won't change that!
I'm not saying amps, tubes ect.. won't make a difference,it just seems so meany people are lead to spending money on very expensive interconnects and other magic beans instead of careful shopping and common sense. And there are so meany snake oil selling crooks,that mislead and down right burn people out of a lot of money for worthless crap in a shinny wrapper.
"There's a sucker born every minute,you just happened along"
Tom Waits quoting P.T.Barnum
That statement is alive and well in audio today,so forgive me if I tend to become a little vocal from time to time but I hate seeing people given bad advice,even if it is the popular opinion of the day.
And trust me when I say,I have seen manufacturers of cables and other stuff mislead people who are still novice and trying to learn or worse people who should know better but desperate to solve a major problem cheaply.