Why are vacuum tubes still used in audio amplifiers instead of solid-state transistor

Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube electronics is an older technology

Originally Posted by anterm

Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube electronics is an older technology

Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not difficult to come up with many other examples.

John

On May 8, 12:32*pm, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> wrote:
> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>
> > Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is better,
> > but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube electronics is an
> > older technology
>
> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>
> John

Age doesn't determine quality, it more determines price. There are
still some very good amplifiers from the 1950s about, like Quad II and
similar.

There are differences between valve and transistor amps' sound
quality, both have their pros and cons, and some people much prefer
valve.


NT

On May 8, 7:32*am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> wrote:
> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>
> > Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is better,
> > but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube electronics is an
> > older technology
>
> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>
> John
>
> --
> John L Stewart

Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. That
my friend is the answer.

NX211 wrote:
> On May 8, 7:32 am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> > wrote:
>> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>>
>>> Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is
>>> better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube
>>> electronics is an older technology
>>
>> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
>> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>>
>> John
>>
>> --
>> John L Stewart
>
> Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
> one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. That
> my friend is the answer.

Actually, it's easier to make a transistor glow like a tube than to make one sound like a tube.

Fred

On Sun, 8 May 2011 11:06:36 -0700, "Fred" > wrote:

>NX211 wrote:
>> On May 8, 7:32 am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
>> > wrote:
>>> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>>>
>>>> Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is
>>>> better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube
>>>> electronics is an older technology
>>>
>>> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
>>> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>> --
>>> John L Stewart
>>
>> Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
>> one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. That
>> my friend is the answer.
>
>Actually, it's easier to make a transistor glow like a tube than to make one sound like a tube.
>
>Fred
>

Yes, but if you blink you miss it.

d

Don Pearce wrote:
> On Sun, 8 May 2011 11:06:36 -0700, "Fred" > wrote:
>
>> NX211 wrote:
>>> On May 8, 7:32 am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
>>> > wrote:
>>>> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is
>>>>> better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube
>>>>> electronics is an older technology
>>>>
>>>> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
>>>> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>>>>
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> John L Stewart
>>>
>>> Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
>>> one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. That
>>> my friend is the answer.
>>
>> Actually, it's easier to make a transistor glow like a tube than to
>> make one sound like a tube.
>>
>> Fred
>>
>
> Yes, but if you blink you miss it.

;-) Fred

>
> d

On May 8, 10:39*pm, Tabby > wrote:
> On May 8, 12:32*pm, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
>
> > wrote:
> > anterm;930852 Wrote:
>
> > > Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is better,
> > > but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube electronics is an
> > > older technology
>
> > Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
> > difficult to come up with many other examples.
>
> > John
>
> Age doesn't determine quality, it more determines price. There are
> still some very good amplifiers from the 1950s about, like Quad II and
> similar.

IMHO, Quad-II has a quite parsimonious amount amount of "very good" in
it. It is one of the poorest mass made amplifiers ever foisted upon
the public. But so were many others from 1950, Most mass makers were
reluctant to make gear which compares well to what we can do with
tubes now. The car industry also produced attrocious cars in 1950.
nearly everything you bought was butcherd quality, or quality watered
down. In 1955, everyone complained about cars rusting from the inside
out while also wearing out rather too soon.

Peter Walker didn't get famous because of his amps. He became famous
for his electrostatic speakers.

The Chinese make Quad amps now and has tried to make them better, but
the Quad 40 has many shortcomings; they just don't get it.

Things have not changed, the vast majority of stuff for sale is what I
never want to own. And the fact that slave labour in China makes it
for almost nothing so that when its sold in Oz after rapacious shop
owners here sell it at 20 times the Chinese factory gate price, I
still don't want it. The Chinese can make good underpants
and plastic reader glasses, but not tube amps. I also get many solid
state amps coming in for repairs, and made badly.


>> There are differences between valve and transistor amps' sound
> quality, both have their pros and cons, and some people much prefer
> valve.

Indeed. Both forms of amps should measure well at normal listening
levels. I've heard some tube amps which don't, and they don't sound so
good, and often its because the makers have NO IDEA about how to
design anything. I have had to totally re-wire a lot of brandname amps
because of the ignorance of the makers. Much tube gear is complete
rubbish and the prooduct of minds that were merely greedy, and they
peddle crap in an entrepreneuring effort which is a complete con job.
Many people have more money than good sense let alone any ability to
tell what really sounds well and slick promotion efforts get sales of
rubbsh. Some people woud gladly eat a **** sandwich if they are told
how ****in marvellous the sandwich is and shown how wonderful the
sandwich looks.

But I raise my hat to the **** producers of the world.

I can then compete with the crap products by offering real
performance.

> NT

Patrick Turner.

On May 9, 4:06*am, "Fred" > wrote:
> NX211 wrote:
> > On May 8, 7:32 am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> > > wrote:
> >> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>
> >>> Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is
> >>> better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube
> >>> electronics is an older technology
>
> >> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
> >> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>
> >> John
>
> >> --
> >> John L Stewart
>
> > Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
> > one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. *That
> > my friend is the answer.
>
> Actually, it's easier to make a transistor glow like a tube than to make one sound like a tube.
>
> Fred- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

NO. I never been able to make a transistor glow. But they can easily
make fuses blow, after they have failed to become a sullen dull
useless bit of junk which conducts like wire in both directions.

Patrick Turner.

On May 9, 4:57*am, (Don Pearce) wrote:
> On Sun, 8 May 2011 11:06:36 -0700, "Fred" > wrote:
> >NX211 wrote:
> >> On May 8, 7:32 am, John L Stewart <John.L.Stewart.
> >> > wrote:
> >>> anterm;930852 Wrote:
>
> >>>> Some audiophiles say that the sound quality in vacuum tubes is
> >>>> better, but I fail to see why, especially since vacuum tube
> >>>> electronics is an older technology
>
> >>> Same odd reason some people prefer to ride a horse now & then! Not
> >>> difficult to come up with many other examples.
>
> >>> John
>
> >>> --
> >>> John L Stewart
>
> >> Any good audio engineer can make a transistor sound like a tube but
> >> one thing they can't do is make a transistor glow like a tube. *That
> >> my friend is the answer.
>
> >Actually, it's easier to make a transistor glow like a tube than to make one sound like a tube.
>
> >Fred
>
> Yes, but if you blink you miss it.

Sometimes bjts explode if they try to get hot. Then you need to have
eyes wide shut.

Patrick Turner.
>
> d- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -