Pinetop:
Dunno if this exactly qualifies, but for my secondary system I am running an older (like 15 yrs?) NYAL Moscode 300. It's a hybrid tube amp (tubed input stage, ss output) and I have found the thing it does best is rock! It's no slouch on classical and jazz, just lacking in the crisp definition I'd gotten used to on my primary system. But feed this amp a little r-n-r and crank up the pots and yikes - "you are there"! I also think that comparative lack of definition helps with the poorer recording by emphasizing tone over detail. For example - I have a cd with horrible sibiliance (demo cd by a co-workers' spawn recorded by technically challenged friends) but on the NYAL it is significantly less distressing to listen to, even at rock volume. The trade-off is that (again, comparatively) the bass notes tend towards sliding into place, rather than snapping from note to note. I am listening to a good recording of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" the Fantasy Overture, as I write this, it has a kettle drum pounding away at one point and it sounds like a staccato rumble - you hear each individual beat, yet the overall effect is a constant throb. With Led Zepplin (musical tastes run the full spectrum in this house) I may not hear the pluck of the string, but I do get the full bass line underneath it all, and for most rock recordings that's all you're likely to get anyway (said with a grin, folks!). Naturally, results vary (the bass "slide" is less pronounced on Paradigm Monitor 9's than on Silverline SR-17's, but the 'digms are only down to 46hz, while the SR-17's work down to 38hz, and I am flying sub-less here).
That's a long answer that only needed to say "Yes, tubes can rock, and be forgiving of source material". But hey, I've had two cups of coffee already.
chas
Dunno if this exactly qualifies, but for my secondary system I am running an older (like 15 yrs?) NYAL Moscode 300. It's a hybrid tube amp (tubed input stage, ss output) and I have found the thing it does best is rock! It's no slouch on classical and jazz, just lacking in the crisp definition I'd gotten used to on my primary system. But feed this amp a little r-n-r and crank up the pots and yikes - "you are there"! I also think that comparative lack of definition helps with the poorer recording by emphasizing tone over detail. For example - I have a cd with horrible sibiliance (demo cd by a co-workers' spawn recorded by technically challenged friends) but on the NYAL it is significantly less distressing to listen to, even at rock volume. The trade-off is that (again, comparatively) the bass notes tend towards sliding into place, rather than snapping from note to note. I am listening to a good recording of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" the Fantasy Overture, as I write this, it has a kettle drum pounding away at one point and it sounds like a staccato rumble - you hear each individual beat, yet the overall effect is a constant throb. With Led Zepplin (musical tastes run the full spectrum in this house) I may not hear the pluck of the string, but I do get the full bass line underneath it all, and for most rock recordings that's all you're likely to get anyway (said with a grin, folks!). Naturally, results vary (the bass "slide" is less pronounced on Paradigm Monitor 9's than on Silverline SR-17's, but the 'digms are only down to 46hz, while the SR-17's work down to 38hz, and I am flying sub-less here).
That's a long answer that only needed to say "Yes, tubes can rock, and be forgiving of source material". But hey, I've had two cups of coffee already.
chas