Any time you have a vacuum, you have a weak link. I think tubes are inherently better to listen to, and replacing every few years and a slightly higher noise floor is a small price to pay for dynamic realism. Considering how noisey the world is these days anyway, it's kind of an academic problem unless you live in the middle of nowehere, and still the hiss is, on my system, unnoticeable except at *very* high volume and with no music playing. So I take the bad with the good.
differences between tube and solid state designs
this topic may have been beaten to death.
however, my experience attending ces shows has demonstrated to my eras that the differences between push pull tube and solid state amplifiers sound very similar.
i notice today's tube amps, e.g., contad johnson, audio research, wolcott audio, etc., do not exhibit many of the classic colorations associated with tube designs and sound a lot like solid state, especially with respect to frequency response, i.e., spectral balance.
there may be still be slight audible differences between the 2 formats.
has anyone perceived a narrowing of sonic differences between the two designs and if so if differences are slight, why buy a tube amp.
note, i have deliberately excluded class a and single ended amps, at low wattage, from this discussion. some of them have more of a vintage or classic tube sound, especially relative to bass and treble response.
however, my experience attending ces shows has demonstrated to my eras that the differences between push pull tube and solid state amplifiers sound very similar.
i notice today's tube amps, e.g., contad johnson, audio research, wolcott audio, etc., do not exhibit many of the classic colorations associated with tube designs and sound a lot like solid state, especially with respect to frequency response, i.e., spectral balance.
there may be still be slight audible differences between the 2 formats.
has anyone perceived a narrowing of sonic differences between the two designs and if so if differences are slight, why buy a tube amp.
note, i have deliberately excluded class a and single ended amps, at low wattage, from this discussion. some of them have more of a vintage or classic tube sound, especially relative to bass and treble response.
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- 51 posts total
- 51 posts total