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Why don’t tube amps sound like tubes anymore?

When I hear the latest tube amps I’m more reminded of what a solid state amp sounds like than what I remember a tube amp once sounded like. I say that, with most tube amps I hear today, but not all. Gone seems to be the lush tones, warm glow and natural harmonics I used to hear. What I hear is more of a thoroughbred, faster, sharper sound when I listen to a modern tube design today. Then why use tubes?
hiendmmoe

Showing 2 responses by twoleftears

twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,320 posts
 
Many tube brands are designing their current amps to sound more like SS, precisely because many people criticized the typical older models for being, well, too "tubey". Proves you can't please all the people all the time.
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,320 posts
 

If you really enjoy warm and tubey, why shouldn't you be able to go out and buy a nice-sounding warm and tubey amp?  It seems these days manufacturers (and to some extent, reviewers and magazines) want to dictate what listeners should be listening to, i.e. what they deem "correct".  Witness the move to a lot of very analytical speakers from many manufacturers.

There's a reason why SET amps, despite several significant drawbacks that require work-arounds, are still around and produced by a number of generally smaller companies.

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