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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?
128x128daveyf
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
Answer: they ain't got no bass.
daveyf's avatar
daveyf OP
2,871 posts
 
Atmasphere, what do you consider a hybrid tube amp? Since you say a solid state device in the power supply does not mean that the amp is not a true tube amp, what qualifies as a hybrid?
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Oh, they got bass. Tube bass, too.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,203 posts
 
By the time I get the bass sounding good to me consistently with a tube amp I may as well just forget about it and stick with Class D. At least with any speakers that I currently own that are relatively full range.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,203 posts
 
If one cares about bass that is where the work is involved, both for the user who must get everything set up properly and for the gear that has to be able to handle the workload.

Treble is still work for teh owner to get things set up right but not so much work for the gear itself. Most good quality gear is capable of good performance with teh treble these days.

Note sound quality depends on performance but are not the same. Getting things to "sound good" is largely an exercise in personal discretion once the basic ability for teh gear to perform up to the level expected is in place.
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