[Pez]

Never once in my relatively short time in audio have I heard this question asked. Not once. Yet I have heard 'looking for a solid state amp that sounds more like a tube amp' hundreds of times. Is it coincidence that people would rather their amp sound more tube like? I'm not saying there are not fans of solid state amps in droves out there and rightfully so, there are some great amps, yet it seems like once you've been bitten by the tube bug you don't go back.

Just curious if anyone out there who owns tubes has ever asked this question or been asked this question. 

[Ericus Rex]

I've been asked about tube amps that don't have the stereotypical tube 'flaws' like rolled off highs and tubby bass.  But never been asked for tubes that sound like SS.

[JohnR]

Just curious if anyone out there who owns tubes has ever asked this question or been asked this question. 

No, but then again I don't think I've asked or been asked the other way either. It would be hard to make any headway on a question like this anyway, as there are so many assumptions and stereotypes built in. And both techs are being challenged by class D, so in the end enjoy the ride! is the best approach.

[walkern]

I've noticed that many of the best tube amp manufacturers have (over the years) sought to make their tube amps share some solid state virtues.  McIntosh, ARC, Conrad Johnson etc have worked hard to improve the bass control and extension of their amps, lower their noise floors, extend their treble responses, and increase their ability or capacity to drive difficult speaker loads.  And they all seem to be succeeding!  The trick is to maintain the magic midrange, the extraordinary soundstaging, and keep listener fatigue at bay while doing so.  At this point I think the highest quality tube and solid state gear sounds more 'similar' than ever.  And look at some of the 'hybrid' amps that use tubes in the front end (driver) stage, and transistors in the output stage.  Seems like a melding of the types of amplification can be made to work pretty well too.  Clearly both 'camps' hear the merit of having the most neutral, natural sounding and involving products to offer to consumers.

[woodsyi]

I remember thinking ARC VT100 sounded more SS than CJ MF200.  It had less tube bloom in the middle and more grip on the bass than the MF200.

[JoshK]

i think a largely related point is that most modern speakers are designed with the assumption that a ss amp is going to be driving them, i.e. that the output impedance of amp driving the speakers is near zero, or said another way, the dampening factor is above 20.  the crossovers are designed with that assumption. 

so tube amps then often sound bloomy, tubey, or rolled off unless they employ lots of feedback.  but if you ask me, feedback defeats the purpose of using tubes in the first place and trades away benign lower order harmonic distortion for irritable higher order distortion.  i think this is primarily the ss sound, but there are exceptions. 

tubes are inherently linear (most used for audio) and don't need much if any feedback to obtain good results if designed carefully, but the rub is their output impedance will be nowhere near zero.  then it is a matter of whether the speakers are designed for such an amp.  it is competely possible to design the speakers for said amps and have tight taut bass and linear response while maintaining the purity of sound obtained from an amp lacking higher order distortion. 

the problem is there aren't many commercial speakers designed in such a way.  you are left making your own or having custom speakers made for you to your specification.  this is the beauty of diy, being able to design your total system for the sound not often obtained through commercial means, imo. 

there are some commercial tube amps though that do employ modest amounts of feedback to obtain necessary dampening while carefully designing the circuit for distortion cancellation to balance out the spectral content, leaving a purer sounding amp and keeping some of the benefits of SS amps.  i believe my Audioprism Debut amp to be one of these examples.  It doesn't sound like a SET amp but it does have many qualities not often found in commercial SS or tube amps. 

[rollo]

 I guess this would fall under less romantic sounding. For me it would be Audio Research amps. The AR gear has produces bas as well as SS. Has clarity and transparency. Dynamic as as heck and a soudstage to satify all.
  I own two AR amps a Classic 60 and a DR 250 servo Mk2 [ 240W triode/ch]. When we used the Maggies [ still hanging] the AR amps were just wonderfull. Provide all the slam and dynamics one could ask for with a midrange to write home about.
  IMO most of todays tubed amps lean more to the SS side in sonic traits then back in the day. 



charles

[Tyson]

I was thinking this just the other day - why can't my tube amps sound more like SS.  Then I realized that my source was inverting my signal....

[JLM]

Decware amps don't bloom, aren't colored, and most don't bloat much.

Besides they're well built in America's heartland (with life-time warrantee), simple designs, cheap tubes, self biasing, and do sound really good.   

But most are low powered.

[richidoo]

I like how you think Pez... good question!

Tube amps are such a pain in the ass compared to SS that if you don't desire tube sound it is foolish to accept the compromises of tube technology. By tube sound I don't mean tubey tone, but the presence, aliveness, and tonal accuracy that great tube amps do so easily and SS amps of similar price have difficulty. There are few tube owners that haven't wished for the same level of enjoyment from a reliable transistor amp. But we suffer through the trials of obsolete technology for the music's sake.