Tube gear obsolete??
- Thread starter DaveyF
- Start date
That's better than them coming into your house and checking on what you are up to. Everything we buy at stores now is pretty much swiped onto the store cards that we all must own and carry in order not to pay much higher prices as a form of punishment for not having the store cards that track everything we buy. Never mind NSA, the amount of data that is being collected on each of us and that tracks our movements in any given day is pretty incredible.
Back OT. A question to the tube lovers here...how many of you believe that there will come a time when the "feeding and care" of your beloved tube gear will not be worth it anymore and a trip down ss lane will be a lot easier journey?
I am primarily talking to tube amp users here vs. tube preamp users, as IMO tube amps need a lot more "feeding and care"..However, to some of us with "persnickety" tube preamps, maybe this applies equally.
I am primarily talking to tube amp users here vs. tube preamp users, as IMO tube amps need a lot more "feeding and care"..However, to some of us with "persnickety" tube preamps, maybe this applies equally.
Back OT. A question to the tube lovers here...how many of you believe that there will come a time when the "feeding and care" of your beloved tube gear will not be worth it anymore and a trip down ss lane will be a lot easier journey?
I am primarily talking to tube amp users here vs. tube preamp users, as IMO tube amps need a lot more "feeding and care"..However, to some of us with "persnickety" tube preamps, maybe this applies equally.
Great question! For me the answer is similar to when will I give up vinyl...I will happily give up tube equipment when I can get the same sound at a similar price from reliable solid state gear.
I just saw this fantastic ad on A'gon from one of the lady dealer's( Did you know that there were any lady dealers, I didn't), trying to sell a pair of ARC 610t's
Great piece of advertising....http://app.audiogon.com/listings/tu...20-power-tubes-2013-07-09-amplifiers-11109-ny
I think she has talent, LOL.
Tube amps need more Seller's like her, IMHO.
Great piece of advertising....http://app.audiogon.com/listings/tu...20-power-tubes-2013-07-09-amplifiers-11109-ny
I think she has talent, LOL.
Tube amps need more Seller's like her, IMHO.
Sam,TT's ads are pretty hilarious, IMO. Particularly her comments about the ARC Ref610t...cracks me up! She's a little long winded, but if you read the whole thing, she's got a talent
Bob, I presume you are talking about the young lady in post #22, LOL.
Sorry for the late reply Davey; but how did you guess?
Let's say the ss gear comes within a cat's whisker of the sound of your cherished tube gear but you don't have to (a) worry about finding tubes and (b) don't have to deal with the tube's heat during the summer. What do you do then Marc?
Uh, nothing. I've got enough back up tubes to last through the rapture. (My latest pair of National Union 56's cost all of $14.73.) I live in the Pacific Northwest so summer heat isn't an issue.
If I was buying new, I'd have something to consider...
FWIW, I cherish people, not gear!
Anyone can make an argument against tubes.But this hobby is about sound reproduction not convenience, cost or anything else. If one feels using tubes can bring about a truer sense of that sound then that is what should be used.
If solid state does it for you ,by all means use that.
If you could afford it,would you not own a sports car because of higher maintenance cost.
Life's to short.enjoy what you can,when you can
If solid state does it for you ,by all means use that.
If you could afford it,would you not own a sports car because of higher maintenance cost.
Life's to short.enjoy what you can,when you can
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
one would think it to be that simple unless of course you read this thread in its entirety
As I said and you too in a different way, "it's all about preference"
You gotto have the right speaker davey, some current sucking vampire of a speaker will give any tube amp a hard time .
300 B tubes will last over 10 years with normal use , compare my electric bill to a krell user and i have a green product /money saver
It also serves dynamics well , you need very little power for maximum membrane excursion in other words you have a very quick/strong/efficient motor , always in control and fast
300 B tubes will last over 10 years with normal use , compare my electric bill to a krell user and i have a green product /money saver
It also serves dynamics well , you need very little power for maximum membrane excursion in other words you have a very quick/strong/efficient motor , always in control and fast
Back OT. A question to the tube lovers here...how many of you believe that there will come a time when the "feeding and care" of your beloved tube gear will not be worth it anymore and a trip down ss lane will be a lot easier journey?
I am primarily talking to tube amp users here vs. tube preamp users, as IMO tube amps need a lot more "feeding and care"..However, to some of us with "persnickety" tube preamps, maybe this applies equally.
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If I could build a transistor amp that sounded as smooth as a tube amp I would go SS without looking back.
But I can't, and it seems that no-one else can either. Since our ears use odd orders to sort out how loud a sound is, they are more sensitive to those odd orders than good test equipment. So the trace amounts of odd ordered harmonic content found in nearly all SS amps will always be heard as slightly harder and brighter than a tube amp with the same bandwidth.
Its funny. Tubes were supposed to be obsolete 55 years ago but they are still around for the simple fact that they failed to be inferior to the succeeding art. So you don't have to know what they sound like to know that this is true- all you have to know is economics. The odd thing is that older semiconductors are a hellava lot harder to find than a 6SN7 which was considered obsolete in 1965. I own an operate a lot of vintage SS gear- analog synths and other recording studio devices. Heaven help you if the chips in those things fail. Even linear power transistors are getting hard to get. I can buy several different 6SN7s of current construction any day of the week...
But I can't, and it seems that no-one else can either. Since our ears use odd orders to sort out how loud a sound is, they are more sensitive to those odd orders than good test equipment. So the trace amounts of odd ordered harmonic content found in nearly all SS amps will always be heard as slightly harder and brighter than a tube amp with the same bandwidth.
Its funny. Tubes were supposed to be obsolete 55 years ago but they are still around for the simple fact that they failed to be inferior to the succeeding art. So you don't have to know what they sound like to know that this is true- all you have to know is economics. The odd thing is that older semiconductors are a hellava lot harder to find than a 6SN7 which was considered obsolete in 1965. I own an operate a lot of vintage SS gear- analog synths and other recording studio devices. Heaven help you if the chips in those things fail. Even linear power transistors are getting hard to get. I can buy several different 6SN7s of current construction any day of the week...
steve williams
Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Ralph
So good to hear a voice of reason.
There is one manufacturer here who would have us believe that tubes are evil and all wrong and we who love tubes are misinformed
So good to hear a voice of reason.
There is one manufacturer here who would have us believe that tubes are evil and all wrong and we who love tubes are misinformed
Could you share whom is that manufacturer you are refering?, thank's in advance.
regards and enjoy the music,
R.
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