4 ms·

translation: "an amplifier that sounds pleasant and warm, not harsh like a transistor."

sethhochberg 8y ago
The thing to note is that (good) tube amplifiers can be designed to be very linear until they're driven too hard - the audiophile community often overlooks this detail when they're shopping for "warm" tube amps for general power amp duties. The big differences between tubes and other kinds of amplifiers appear when they're driven at, and especially past, their design limits. In an application like a guitar amplifier, some kind of effect/distortion pedal, etc the tube circuit is typically overdriven by design to get all of those warm harmonics. A tube that isn't being overdriven is every bit as capable of being a "wire with gain" as any kind of transistor or more modern circuit.
blattimwind 8y ago
Good transistor amplifiers (i.e. 70s technology) are sufficiently good approximations of an ideal audio-band VCVS that they have no sound at all.
- mark-r 8y ago
  I used to think that until I compared a couple. The most realistic sound I've ever heard was from a tube-powered system.
  - ferongr 8y ago
    Post your statistically-significant double-blind testing logs.
    - Applejinx 8y ago
      You do understand that your point of view is only one among many valid positions on the subject, some held by authoritative figures? (and I don't mean me, I'm thinking the likes of JJ) This isn't solely a defense of the position you challenged, more a call-out on your tactic here. You're not exactly representative. The talk of transistor amplifiers being perfect and having no sound at all is of course nonsense: typically this kind of claim looks at frequency response and outright ignores slew rate, crossover distortion, behavior as the amp exits its passband on either extreme, and so on. There CAN be transistor amplifiers, both simple and incredibly complex, that are so good that they've got effectively no sound at all. It's even possible that it's easier to get there with a transistor amplifier given enough money and resources. But that's not the claim.
  - blattimwind 8y ago
    Liking tube sound or, more generally, the defects/characteristics of a particular amplifier (, headphones, speaker, room, ...) is perfectly fine with me. I get easily annoyed though when people start spewing pseudo-scientific BS justifying that deviations are objectively better than no deviations or that there are significant (or "obvious with good ears") differences between amplifiers where there simply are no such differences.

The thing to note is that (good) tube amplifiers can be designed to be very linear until they're driven too hard - the audiophile community often overlooks this detail when they're shopping for "warm" tube amps for general power amp duties. The big differences between tubes and other kinds of amplifiers appear when they're driven at, and especially past, their design limits. In an application like a guitar amplifier, some kind of effect/distortion pedal, etc the tube circuit is typically overdriven by design to get all of those warm harmonics. A tube that isn't being overdriven is every bit as capable of being a "wire with gain" as any kind of transistor or more modern circuit.

blattimwind 8y ago

Good transistor amplifiers (i.e. 70s technology) are sufficiently good approximations of an ideal audio-band VCVS that they have no sound at all.

mark-r 8y ago
I used to think that until I compared a couple. The most realistic sound I've ever heard was from a tube-powered system.
- ferongr 8y ago
  Post your statistically-significant double-blind testing logs.
  - Applejinx 8y ago
    You do understand that your point of view is only one among many valid positions on the subject, some held by authoritative figures? (and I don't mean me, I'm thinking the likes of JJ) This isn't solely a defense of the position you challenged, more a call-out on your tactic here. You're not exactly representative. The talk of transistor amplifiers being perfect and having no sound at all is of course nonsense: typically this kind of claim looks at frequency response and outright ignores slew rate, crossover distortion, behavior as the amp exits its passband on either extreme, and so on. There CAN be transistor amplifiers, both simple and incredibly complex, that are so good that they've got effectively no sound at all. It's even possible that it's easier to get there with a transistor amplifier given enough money and resources. But that's not the claim.
- blattimwind 8y ago
  Liking tube sound or, more generally, the defects/characteristics of a particular amplifier (, headphones, speaker, room, ...) is perfectly fine with me. I get easily annoyed though when people start spewing pseudo-scientific BS justifying that deviations are objectively better than no deviations or that there are significant (or "obvious with good ears") differences between amplifiers where there simply are no such differences.