What do you see as the downside of tubes?


I have decided on getting a tube amp and it will be the integrated Mastersound 300B driving a pair of Living Voice Avatars, so at least that decision has been taken.

My main question is what you see as downsides of having a tube amp. As I've decided on getting an integrated tube it's really about what the downsides are I might want to know about beforehand.

The ones I'm aware are the following.

-The tubes need to be replaced and in the case of a 300B this will be somewhat costly.

-Bias is another issue but I'm not sure how big an issue. Do you plug in your meter every so often or just when you roll tubes or replace a dead one? The meter as such isn't gonna be a big issue as I don't think it's that expensive.

-Heat won't be a big issue as we have no kids nor a nosy dog that could get burned. Hope my electricity bill isn't gonna go through the roof, but then again, I can't quite imagine that.

I'd appreciate if you could add whatever your experiences are regarding this question are as I'd like to know more before I buy it.

Thanks
krauti

Showing 3 responses by eldartford

I mostly agree with Tvad's item 3. The constant uncertainty detracts from enjoyment.
Atmasphere...As I recall (and it was a long time ago) after "modeling" Carver inserted networks to match what was modeled. Listening tests by a gang of golden ears were unable to distinguish the modeled amp from the real thing.

May I submit that a D/A conversion (digital amp) can be much more linear than any analog component (eg: tube).

Clipping characteristics are of academic interest. I don't operate my amps into clipping.
Well. actually, a couple of decades ago Bob Carver demonstrated that characteristics of an audio amp can be taylored to match those of any other amp. Also, Behringer, (sorry about that Rodman99999) makes a device that can be added to a system to simulate tube sound. There is a selector switch to choose what tube type you want to match.

But if tubes turn you on, it's probably easier to just use tubes.