When were the best tube amps made?


And what were they?

1980's Audio Research need not apply. 

erik_squires

Due to the improvement in component materials the best sounding amps are probably being produced today.  Unfortunately the best tubes produced are from the 40s and 50s.  It does seem that recent  tube manufactures are  focusing on producing a better quality product but at a increased cost.  That makes sense as the numbers produced are so much lower than they were in their hay day.  

The best amps were made when Japanese thoroughness joined American ingenuity: think Wavac, Shindo, Yamamoto, Kondo and nowadays Allnic, Zanden and Luxman

Another version of "back in the good old days". I suspect with tube amps or anything else, it’s hard to say that advancements in design and technology haven’t improved todays products over things being built in the past. Politicians being the exception to the rule.

You got that right, and I wish we could fix it! 😲

I also agree with the rest of your comment. Engineers and designers are as well educated than ever, and they can do things that weren’t common practice decades ago. With every advancement in capacitor, speaker, measurement, and wire technology, it becomes easier to hear some of the subtle things that were masked by the systems of the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc. Transformers in general aren’t as robust as they once were (as with most things), but the capability definitely exists and forges on over time....at the cutting edge of amplifier technology transformers are better than ever.  At the entry levels, not so much.

Even though it’s controversial for some things, I know that cryogenics are used at many levels of the true SOTA stuff. Kodak used cryogenics many, many years ago to make their machines and tools last longer, and many audio engineers are experimenting using it on other materials and aspects of audio.

Who knows....in 50 years maybe computer circuits will be housed inside a vacuum to make better sound!

and an honorable mention to the OTL crowd: Futterman, Graaf, Ralph Carsten and Dave Berning

D-150  1975.  I have heard that the 1995 Ref 600 III was as good.

 

Did I fit your "timeline?"