Yes I would.
Would you buy a tube amp if you were unable to use vintage tubes in it ?
Not available or too expensive.
Hmm.., I don't think I have a definitive answer for myself, but I would do my best to avoid such amps. There is no substitute for great tubes, I guess, especially if you value sophisticated sound.
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Absolutely. I’ve run precious few NOS or vintage tubes in my amps/preamp over the years. Tung Sol, Gold Lion, and some EH and new issue Mullards have been sounding darn good to me. Even the modern tubes that I haven’t "loved" have been pretty pleasant. It's difficult for manufacturers to supply reliable consistent vintage tubes in large quantities, so many world class amps source tubes from Russia or China, or wherever else new tubes are made. |
@inna I won't buy it in the first place. Tubes are not for me |
I think, Lamm ( Vladimir Shushurin ) built his amps around particular vintage Russian tubes. But you couldn't buy them from him unless you had Lamm. 12AX7 and 12AU7 vintage tubes are still plenty, probably enough for the next 50 years. As for vintage power tubes, yeah, that's increasingly a problem, both to find a matched quad and rising prices. I should've bought Gryphon Diablo 120 instead of VAC Avatar SE, so much easier. No way. |
- 63 posts total