Good Post! After 10+ years of designing and building tube amps, the speed and clarity of transformer-coupled triodes feeding efficient (96dB/W) speakers is subjectively hard to beat. Yes, some do like that 'warm' sound, a more pleasant distortion than that from over-designed solid state amps utilising hign negative feedback, but simple, well implemented triodes have less of a 'sound', more a feel of "something irritating in the sound has gone away" to listen. Sonic honesty perhaps? Rather than making everything sound the same, be it warm and 'golden' in case of some tube amps, or gritty and hazy in case of solid state...
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Good Post!
After 10+ years of designing and building tube amps, the speed and clarity of transformer-coupled triodes feeding efficient (96dB/W) speakers is subjectively hard to beat.
Yes, some do like that 'warm' sound, a more pleasant distortion than that from over-designed solid state amps utilising hign negative feedback, but simple, well implemented triodes have less of a 'sound', more a feel of "something irritating in the sound has gone away" to listen.
Sonic honesty perhaps? Rather than making everything sound the same, be it warm and 'golden' in case of some tube amps, or gritty and hazy in case of solid state...