In my limited experience I have listened to and owned some amps that were all tube (tube rectifier, voltage regulator, etc.) and some that were tube but had solid state retifiers and voltage regulators. To me, the ones with solid state components sounded solid state. They did not have the "soft" and "smooth" sound the all-tube amps did. Again this is only opinion and it is difficult to quantify, but that was just my perception.
Is your tube amp really a tube amp?
I use and love the older ARC D70Mk2 tube amp. To many people, this design is a true tube amp...however, ARC uses a LOT of transistors in the circuit. In the "day" a transistor was considered a ss device. Anyone know of a tube amp that uses NO transistors in the circuit...only tubes. I suspect that in my amp, the audio signal passes only through the tubes and not through the "ss" devices ( don't know this for sure)...Therefore, what is a TRUE tube amp...how many of us are actually using such a device ( no transistors or other ss devices whatsoever in the amp), vs. a hybrid...what's the definition of that term in regards to tube gear?
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- 26 posts total
- 26 posts total