Would you buy a tube amp if you were unable to use vintage tubes in it ?

I ask this question with complete sincerity.  What is the fascination with vintage tubes?  I can't think of much else where people put such a premium of things built decades ago.  Nothing technological that I can think of.  Are there some materials that are no longer available to modern tube manufacturers?  Is there a secret process that has been Lost?  Surely,  we must be able to manufacture tubes today with the same care and attention to detail.  In virtually all fields, the passing of time leads to improvements in the manufacturing process.  So why are audio tubes, apparently, an exception to this rule.

ghdprentice

In simple inexpensive amps perhaps the tube can get you somewhere better and more sophisticated. But for carefully designed high end amps, the tubes are chosen for availability and general character and then the rest of the component is designed to achieve a very specific sound. The goal is the specific sound characteristics… and all the components are chosen to achieve it ...

I think that's true. It means that with gear such as ARC, you're most likely to get a neutral sound. If you want to fiddle with tubes and use them as a sort of EQ device, that's fine. But then modern tube gear such as ARC probably isn't for you.

@bigtwin I think the answer was supposed to be the transistor but I've been around long enough to remember how much better the ARC SP3 preamp sounded than its solid state competition in the early-mid '70s. And, insofar as tube manufacture is concerned, I think it is a combination of things: materials and worker safety, tooling and loss of know-how for what is at best a now a niche market. That tubes were still manufactured in the old Soviet bloc had less to do with their belief in old technology than it was their inability to modernize. Sure, there are similar issues with rare earth materials involved in semiconductor manufacture, but the tube is obsolete and as such, people go back to the days when they were still a mainstream product. Did you ever see those old newsreels on video of the production of Mullard tubes? Fascinating- it was like a steampunk assembly line.

Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDvF89Bh27Y 

Yes, 100% - and this is the situation for basically any power amp that uses a quad or more of KT88+ tubes. Or anything with 6H30 - which is an excellent tube; arguably better than alternate types with vintage options (6922). Vintage tubes are great, but new tubes are better than no tubes.