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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 1 response by kiwi_1282001

kiwi_1282001
312 posts
 
What are the downside of tubes?

I think the greatest downside is that some people simply expect too much from tube amps.

They want the tubes so they can experience a wonderful liquidity in the mid range - but then are annoyed at the lack of vice like control over the bass.

They want the tubes to experience a wonderful 3D vocal image - but then are annoyed that the soundstage does not extend up to a mile behind the front speaker plane.

They want the tubes so they can enjoy a wonderfully smooth and unfatiquing reproduction to the music but then are annoyed that some of the details are missing and resolution does not seem to be of the highest possible magnitude.

They want the tubes so they can tweak the sound by 'tube rolling' but then get annoyed that the price of some most desirable NOS tubes are going through the roof - and after the same tubes are fitted - they still have not achieved the musical 'shangri-la'.

The downside to tubes is not really the physical characteristic of the tubes themselves or when placed in a circuit what they contribute or do not contribute to the sound. Rather, the downside to tubes is the unrealistic expectations that some audiophiles continue to attribute to them.
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