Why don’t tube amps sound like tubes anymore?

There is something else to consider. The new valve preamps and amps have heat limitations.  They just can't get as hot as the old and be sold, as a retail unit.  The really great sounding valve units made today, are borderline with the heat issue, and probably tip the scales in the summer months..
Production runs of 5-50.  Not 500 to 5,000. 20,000.00 vs 3-5000.00
that 20,000.00 (sometimes) will get the "tube" sound back... The 3-5,000.00 model will keep the heat out, the sound., maybe.

The new VTLs might as well be SS they sound so, SS..LOL
Really, they remind me of the older Krells.

Regards

HI,
Different materials used, different power supplies, different times.

don_c55

"Because the extreme high end wants a certain sound and imaging that has changed over the last several decades.

The current trend is:

Exaggerated high frequencies and etched sound = "detail", biting unnatural attacks = "fast transient response", and unnaturally dry bass = "taut" and “tight" "

Good argument. Fashion shouldn't be an issue when it comes to audio playback. 

Yet it often is, as any visit to a high end show will usually demonstrate.

One explanation given by a certain UK reviewer is that this is done as an attempt to grab the listener's attention as fast as possible. Particularly the elevated treble issue so commonly seen in many speaker designs which can give the impression of superior detail resolution in the short term - but lead to fatigue and headaches in the long.

Some used to even talk about sonic tastes varying from country to country, eg a French sound, an Italian sound, a German sound, or in America, an East and West coast sound. 

I wonder if this is still the case?

Anyway, as far as tube amps go, weren't Single Ended Triode (SET) amps the most representative of the classic tube sound of yore?

https://hometheaterreview.com/whats-so-irresistible-about-a-single-ended-triode-set-amp/

If you ask me, it's the almost universal switch to the use of Wima caps.

In my opinion the new tube gear sounds more like good solid state rather then the warm fuzzy sound of yesterdays tube components so why hassle with tubes any more?