Help! enlightened opinions needed...

[Khornukopia]

My only exposure to tube amplification is hearing live bands a couple times a week and sometimes being on or near the front row, but the on-stage guitar amps are miked and SS amplified through the sound reinforcement speakers, so the reality is I hear only SS if I am more than a few rows back. Besides, if the guitarist used SS and added digital tube sound effects, I would just think that is how the musician meant for it to sound. At home I have K-horns, transistors and I am happy with that sound.

as stated above vinyl through tubes and heritage is glorious, and tubes will also smooth out the rough edges and etch on some poorly recorded digital music as well

I am learning a lot here on the forum, enjoy reading about tube amps and everyone's warm glowing praise for them, but I often see statements about smoother sound and wonder, isn't an amplifier just supposed to amplify the signal, rough edges and all? Then I read the following description, one of the best I have found, understand it better and think that I need to try tubes.

mdeneen, on 04 Apr 2014 - 08:38 AM, said:

"Of course pure personal preference is ultimately the only thing that counts when people lay down their money, but aside from such tastes, there are other rationale for noting the distinction between SS and tube amps. A tube simply behaves different from a transistor, and the difference is absolutely important in audio because the difference involves distortion. There is absolutely no reason on earth to use tubes to build a GPS, or a computer, or a television. Transistors in all those cases are by far superior. Ahhh, but in an amplifier, the clear cut advantage of the tube is not based on tastes or preference, but rather on the fact of how tubes operate. They are natural linear amplifiers with low distortion and need no feedback to control them. The clip softly and symmetrically. Less components are needed for any particular amplifier design. They have more dynamic range. The are ON all the time. In short, they produce less complex distortion signatures just by the nature of their physical operation.

In spite of all their disadvantages, heat, size, cost - they have a niche application in which they are inherently superior: audio amplifiers."

My original post edited for grammar, punctuation and attitude.

Edited June 13, 2014 by Khornukopia

[Gilbert]

But I will pay the price to the power company to have better sound than comparable SS offerings.

Oooooh!! A direct hit in the groin area.......... you SS guys aren't gonna let him get away with that are you?

[muel]

With that said, I know literally nothing about it.

The most important thing to know before spending the money is that tubes require hands on involvement in a way that SS gear doesn't. My best analogy is that SS gear is like owning a Camry, and tube gear is like owning a 1960 MG. You can just "turn the key and drive" your Camry for 100,000 miles, but your 1960 MG will have you under the hood regularly, and not always in a fun way. (Yes, yes, yes, there are exceptions on both sides. I am talking generally here.)

A tube is like a candle. You light it and it begins to burn down to nothing and must be replaced. Replacements are expensive. It has fragile mechanical elements inside that can short and break. And tube amps have lots of these candles on them. Tube amps work at very, VERY high voltages on the order of 600V which means you can get one very nasty "hello" by sticking your fingers where they don't belong. They are in short, an archaic and arcane method of amplifying signals and when you have one, you have to step back in time and put yourself in 1955. Remember how to "clean the points" and "set the timing" in a 1955 Chevy? Remember things like adjusting and bleeding your brakes? Those are analogies to owning tube gear. It requires a kind of hands on involvement that is not present with modern SS gear.

Some people really dig that, and others have no patience for it. So why would anyone want to do it, you say? Because all in all, tube amps are still an extremely viable choice for audio when the main point of consideration is "sound quality." No one buys them for price, convenience, looks (well, maybe some), efficiency. They buy them for the sound and put up with all the rest. And not everyone likes that sound, of course. But for those who do, the nasty bits are worth it to get to the good bits.

If you had a tube amp wired like a 1960 MG you wouldn't have a tube amp for very long! Can you imagine if Lucas had built amps?!