Sometimes you are funny. I used Collins radios for years. They went solid state long before that time.
Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?
What do you guys think?
If transistors came first, and then decades later tubes were invented, would we have any tube amps we would call high end?
Wouldn’t they all fail to reach the height of performance and transparency set by transistor amps?
Best,
E
P.S. I love Conrad Johnson. I'm just wondering how much of our arguments have to do with timing.
If transistors came first, and then decades later tubes were invented, would we have any tube amps we would call high end?
Wouldn’t they all fail to reach the height of performance and transparency set by transistor amps?
Best,
E
P.S. I love Conrad Johnson. I'm just wondering how much of our arguments have to do with timing.
559 responses Add your response
mckinneymike, "I still have yet to find a modern SS/Digital amplification device that I would retire my valves for, but I will always remain open to anything that sounds better to my ears" If you get a chance to hear the Valvet mono blocks it may change your mind. I was running tube amps since the early 90's & tried these out. They are really good single ended solid state amps. I've been using them for about a year now. Only 12 watts at 8 ohms (18 watts at 4 ohms) though so you need relatively high efficient speakers |
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@tubessuck: Oh, yeah. Forgot about the people MAKING the music, I guess: https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/guitar-essentials-five-things-you-should-know-about-tubes Not that THEY are important--only the musicians, after all. What the heck do THEY know, anyway? A. |
I approached that Dynamic Range Database with an open mind and lots of interest. I came away with understanding that either dynamic range is not reliably coinciding with my perception of pleasant recording, or that Dynamic Range Database is, in reality, a random number generator. Basically, I found it useless for all practical purposes although I do not deny its appeal to number-crunching theoreticists. As a minor error in previous post, google search digs out Unofficial Dynamic Range Database. Although an "official" one would imply seriousness and provide for convenient halt of all further questioning of the results, whoever put it there was fair enough not to proclaim her/himself as an official authority. |
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/guitar-essentials-five-things-you-should-know-about-tubes This is really informative for a novice guitar player who has barely heard of tubes and wants to influence the sound in some way. After reading it, the question remains if same intentional changes in the sound could be produced by simply turning a knob of some non-tube device. I would guess they could, but I am not sure. |
Shouldn’t aficionados be more appreciative of the best that different systems can offer rather than being all blue state red state about it? I had tubes for years, love ‘em, and now have solid state. Will very likely have tubes again one day. My current solid state electronics are impressive, as were my tubes before them. To say “tubes suck” or “solid state is garbage” is really just drivel. As aficionados, we all know that a quality system is a wonderful sounding thing, with tubes or solid state! |
geoffkait, I doubt it is an organized conspiracy. More like aural blinding by the numbers. I was comforted that I am not the only one with similar results. Looking for official, I stumbled upon unofficial in some article in Stereophile. Enough of the readers' responses assured me I was not completely wrong. https://www.stereophile.com/content/unofficial-dynamic-range-database |
Sorry man, but vinyl is the absolute most compressed and limited medium on the market.I run an LP mastering operation if that’s any help here. You are incorrect about LPs on a number of counts. Specifically with LPs vs CDs, **usually** the CD is more compressed! The reason has nothing to do with the capabilities of either format. Its has to do with cars. Because CDs are expected to be played in cars, they are compressed. LPs have no such expectation, and generally have less or no compression whatsoever. When we do an LP project from a digital master, it is for this reason that we try to get the master file that was made prior to CD mastering. Regarding your bass comment about the middle of the LP, the statement is entirely false. Mastering houses don’t do that. Now there is this thing about out-of-phase bass, which is something that can show up in a multi-mic’ed recording but so far I’ve found that you don’t need to apply processing to get around that problem- you just need to spend time sorting out with test cuts how to get around the problem, which might be greater groove depth or cutting the overall modulation slightly- a 3db reduction is half the modulation in the groove. IOW, I think you are confusing the things that people do to take shortcuts with the actual capabilities of the medium itself. The two are quite different! ******************* Still have yet to hear a solid state amp of any type that can keep up with the tube amps I have at home. Most of them I’ve heard just don’t want to play bass impact right! The reason that the tubes/transistor debate has raged as long as the internet is simple- tubes aren’t bad nor are they obsolete. People don’t buy them because they want something antiquated. They buy them because there is less perceived distortion, although most people will tell you its because they are more detailed and smoother, which is the same thing. |
Specifically with LPs vs CDs, **usually** the CD is more compressed! The reason has nothing to do with the capabilities of either format. Its has to do with cars. Because CDs are expected to be played in cars, they are compressed. When CD's first came out, there were several measurements showing greater compression, and less channel separation between CD's and vinyl. There's even an interesting blog post somewhere showing how Thriller got more and more compressed with each re-release. Not a result of the medium. However, it doesn't have to be that way, and some of this has cooled off, but this varies by industry. Listen to Trombone Shorty on CD for an example. :) Best, E |
Look, tubes sound like music. Everything else doesn’t. Unless it’s very low power transistors in portable CD players. Then it sounds like tubes, not transistors. If in fact portable CD players have transistors and not tiny little tubes. Tubes have air, tubes have lots of dynamics and tubes have warmth. If you like your music to sound like paper mache then transistors are for you. |
Google NuTube. Looks like things are still evolving. "It was developed by Korg, the musical instrument maker, and Noritake, a manufacturer of vacuum fluorescent displays, in Japan"from the internet. I would say this is just a gimic product. It is basically a preamp tube, very small directly heated wire cathode so that will have to be DC driven. The gain in circuit is 3.5 where a 12AX7 is typically 50. The max gains are 5 and 100 respectively. Output distorts badly at 1 volt out and there is little current. I can’t imagine this entering any high end audio circuits, though it will be fun for the guitar players as it distorts and lights up. |
It is basically a preamp tube, very small directly heated wire cathode so that will have to be DC driven. The gain in circuit is 3.5 where a 12AX7 is typically 50. The max gains are 5 and 100 respectively.There's already product using it other than Korg. The military has been experimenting with filament-less (cold cathode) tubes in integrated circuits (entire opamps done with cold cathode tubes) for several decades now. |
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glupson geoffkait, I doubt it is an organized conspiracy. More like aural blinding by the numbers. I was comforted that I am not the only one with similar results. Looking for official, I stumbled upon unofficial in some article in Stereophile. Enough of the readers' responses assured me I was not completely wrong. https://www.stereophile.com/cont >>>>Yes, I’m aware there are a lot like you. |