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Too Many Tubes?

More as a thought experiment than as a description of an actual problem that may or may not exist...

Has anyone ever considred if there might be a problem with too many tubes in a given system? How many tubes is too many, and what might be some issues that could have a detrimental effect on system sound quality?

What do I mean by too many tubes?
1- too many physical tubes (by quantity). Consider an example where you have (let's say) 20 or more physical tubes distributed in your power amp, pre-amp, phono stage and DAC. Besides the obvious potential issues with heat and the cost of rolling and replacing so many tubes, what are the disadvantages (if any) of utilizing so many tubes?

2- Same question, but this time the concern is not the physical number of tubes but the variety of tube types used in a given system. Can anyone make an argument against (or for) using a large variety of tube types in a single system?

For years I used a system with a SS amp (Krell, then McCormack) and ARC tube pre and phono stage. The ARC gear used the same 6922 tubes, and it there was a well-defined (not necessarily great) sonic signature. It was also very easy to tell when a given tube was microphonic or going bad.

Lately, I have been swapping a lot of new (to me) used gear in and out, and the all-tube setups have varied from SET to integrated tube amps w/ phono to all CJ tube seperates. All good... well, mostly, but I have noticed that in the setups with many tubes and/or many tube types it is can be hard to pick out the characteristics of a single tube or tube type. I am not saying that that is good or bad - it just is what it is.

Comments?
br3098
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,887 posts
 
If you like them and you have a tube tester when needed, maybe not.
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 
Only if your music has too many notes!
cyclonicman
693 posts
 
Sounds like you are paying to much attention to your tubes and not enough to the music. If you are just going to continue to analyze and compare the sound characteristics of each tube over and over, you can't be enjoying the music and you are going to toast your brain to the point where you find it difficult to listen to music without analyzing the sound of your gear.
lacee
811 posts
 
I've owned lots of tubed and non tubed gear over the years,but I've always been able to distinguish what output tubes were used.

Most el 34 amps sound similar, the OTL AtmaSphere sounded different, and so did the 300B and EL 84 amps all have a unique sound.

There is a problem somewhere in the chain if you can't hear any differences.
You have a lack of resolving power and somewhere there is a bottlekneck.

I don't believe it's the number of tubes that are used in a system as much as it is about how they are employed and what they are paired up with that is the problem.

My system has tubes in the cd player, tubes in the pre/phono stage and tubes in the power amp, yet I can distinguish between good recordings and those that aren't as good.

In other words the number of tubes in the loop has no bearing on the resolution of the system.
All music doesn't sound the same,you hear it warts and all.

Which is how I think a system tube or solid state, should sound like.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,887 posts
 
It's funny how many audio people are able to accept the benefits of tube rolling and its effect on sound for better or for worse but cannot digest other approaches to customizing the sound, like digital signal processing, tone controls, etc.

The results always speak for themselves and there are so many ways to tweak to get what you want.

So, it's just funny....
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