What makes a tube amp better?

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by perttime

An SS cirquit in a large box is inferior to an SS cirquit in a small box?

Or are you thinking distortion in the power amp? That should not be happening with a SS amp. If it is, you need a bigger one.

Don't know what he means But the input signal simply colors the sound going into the amp.. Your still going to have the overall sound characteristics of either a tube amp, or SS amp, going out to the speakers

But all of this has nothing to do with the uneqivical scientifically proven fact that :
If you like chocolate, tube amps are better
If you like vanilla , SS amps are better

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Don't know what he means But the input signal simply colors the sound going into the amp.. Your still going to have the overall sound characteristics of either a tube amp, or SS amp, going out to the speakers

But all of this has nothing to do with the uneqivical scientifically proven fact that :
If you like chocolate, tube amps are better
If you like vanilla , SS amps are better

Guys, I don't "mean" anything. Just look at the flow of the thread.

I reacted to this statement. ..

"And then you hear people using solid state pedals for overdrive."

...which was in response to a guy pointing out that overdriven transistors produce odd -order harmonics...

As if the fact that an overdriven solid state amp sounds bad somehow means it's senseless to use a solid state pedal to get overdrive.

I was simply pointing out that the two things have nothing to do with one another.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Don't know what he means But the input signal simply colors the sound going into the amp.. Your still going to have the overall sound characteristics of either a tube amp, or SS amp, going out to the speakers

But all of this has nothing to do with the uneqivical scientifically proven fact that :
If you like chocolate, tube amps are better
If you like vanilla , SS amps are better

And if you like neapolitan you like tube, SS, and modeling amps .

[Trevor B.]

Originally Posted by numb fingertips

From reading on here, I got the impression that tube amps are better or there is a preference for tube amps. Am I mistaken? What makes them better? How about a low watt tube amp for home?

Maybe this videos will help answer the OP's question.

Originally Posted by KevWind

But all of this has nothing to do with the uneqivical scientifically proven fact that :
If you like chocolate, tube amps are better
If you like vanilla , SS amps are better

Gotta love it!!!

[RickRS]

Originally Posted by printer2

When you clip one side more than the other you get more odd harmonics. When you clip them evenly you get more even. You can do the same with SS circuits where you have a diode clipper on one side and not clip the other side of the waveform.

That's not true, at all.
The clipping, one side or both, has to do with how square the clipping occurs. Square waves are rich in odd harmonics.

Because of the compression effect as a tube is driven into saturation, it doesn't generate square, "clipped", waveforms. It's has a more rounded, sinusoid shape, which is richer in even harmonics.

[clintj]

Uneven compression, where one half the waveform is higher amplitude than the other, produces largely even order harmonics. The cathode follower stages in many Marshalls, the tweed Bassman and high power Twin, and the AC30 Top Boost channel are examples. These get a fatter, warmer, sound as the drive level increases.

Single ended tube amps like the tweed Champ, Marshall Class 5, and Vox AC4 distort asymmetrically and produce even harmonics, as do many single ended tube preamp stages. Push/pull output sections naturally cancel out even harmonics in their distortion and produce mainly odd order harmonics. This is why non-master volume amps cranked have a different character of sound vs amps with large amounts of preamp gain and distortion.

Transistors can be producers of either type of distortion, it depends more on the circuit in question. When pushed to clipping, they do tend to go square edged vs the rounded curves tubes produce due to grid current limiting and the island effect. You can tune either device within the circuit for even/odd balance, though.

[printer2]

Sorry, you're right, going off memory (oh my god) and when I thought things out I see I had things flipped. A symmetrical clipping would have equal energy on either side and the even harmonics cancel out.



On the sharpness of clipping between a tube or transistor amp it has much to do with how much negative feedback employed. A tube amp with NFB will square off a sine wave just as well as a transistor amp. It is hard to compare tubes verses transistor as transistor amp generally have been designed with NFB in mind. There have been amps like the Lil' Tiger in the early SS era which ran only minimum local NFB. An amp with minimal NFB has a rising distortion characteristic with increased signal level as compared to one with greater NFB where the THD stays low and then goes straight up due to clipping.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

And if you like neapolitan you like tube, SS, and modeling amps .

Science is amazing

[Marley]

Originally Posted by AxeDude

I love my THR10C, and it’s good to see this glowing comment on the THR100HD. I haven’t seen many comments on these. I’d love to try one for a band gig. I bet they are fantastic.

I have the THR5 next to our bed and I absolutely love it. I love so much in fact that I bought the 100HD sight unseen and was not disappointed. The only thing I feared was if it'd be loud enough in a band situation. The online comments went from it's too quiet to it's plenty loud for a band. I can tell you after using it with my band, it's more than loud enough. I love it. The head is super light but the 2 12" speaker cab might be heavier than my Bassman.

[numb fingertips]

[QUOTE=Trevor B.;6043004]Maybe this videos will help answer the OP's question.



Thank you for the video. It explained a lot.

[roylor4]

Originally Posted by Trevor B.

Maybe this videos will help answer the OP's question.





Gotta love it!!!

Very interesting and informative!

[Pnewsom]

One thing that strikes me in this thread, is the concept that tube and solid state amps can be compared as if they were all the same. Nothing could be further from the truth.

On the tube side, Fender have had three distinct eras of amp circuits, Tweed, Brownface, and Blackface. They are very different in tonality, and texture, and even the various models within the families(Princeton, Deluxe, Pro, Super, and Twin) sound quite different as well. Then there is Marshall, Vox, Ampeg, Sunn, Peavey as well many newer company's offerings, all with their own sound.

The amps I mentioned above are all generally used for performing musicians in bands, and with the exception of the Princetons, most aren't really suitable(too loud) for home use.

Same can be said on the solid state side.

So make blanket statements that tube or ss amps are inherently better is a dubious propsition.

Btw, I have never in 40 years of playing had a tube amp go down at a gig...

[Marley]

Originally Posted by Pnewsom

.

Btw, I have never in 40 years of playing had a tube amp go down at a gig...

I can say in over 2+ decades of playing live, home use and rehearsal use with a ton of banging around and loading up that I never once had any issues as well with my tubes or my tube amps.

[M Sarad]

I had the 60 year old Tweed Deluxe crap out at a gig when it was only 57. Had to get a new power cord.

[Hurricane Bob]

I only play tube amps 'cause they sound so unbelievably fantastic, transistor amps hurt my ears.