@frogman An extremely generous offer. Thank you.
What is it, from a technical standpoint, that allows good tube amplification to reproduce micro dynamics in a way that is much closer to what I hear in live music? I refer to the ability to reproduce the seamless dynamic gradations in volume (especially very subtle gradations) that give music a sense of aliveness; not simply the ability to play very loudly. I know some will disagree, but to me tube amps generally do a better job of this than solid state. The attributes of tube amplification are often described in terms of tonality, dimensionality, staging, but to me the thing that draws me to tubes more than anything is the way they reproduce dynamics. I generally hear more dynamic nuance (realism) from tubes. Thoughts?
Transistors have a very abrupt turn on. A silicon transistor starts conducting with 0.6 volts on the input (base) and is fully on by 0.7. With MOSFETS the numbers are just as bad 3.1 to 3.5 or so.
Tubes, on the otherhand, have in input range of many volts. A preamp tube might go from -10 to 0 on the input. A power tube -50 to 0. The - sign occurrs because tubes want to be on till you cut them off, so the grid (input) always starts out negative.
So input range has something to do with producing microdynamics and dynamic range as the devices themselves inherently have more range.
One other thing that has drawn me to tubes. Only with tubes can you make a minimal circuit that sound good. Transistors require many stages and lots of feedback. Now feedback is not inherently bad but a lot of feedback gets people in trouble with oscillations (instability). I also like the fact that tubes need no protective circuitry, last long if well treated, are nice to look at.
Transistors don’t last forever and transistor amps are much harder to fix than most tube amps. (not ARC) :(
In the new year, time permitting, I will put up some videos to show people how easy it is to fix a tube amp. The other day I fixed one over the phone in Germany. With proper knowledge and a little advice its not hard.