I was asked by a fellow member to make some comments about the sound of tube gear and SS gear. Mainly with regards to power amps. He sited the fact that I have been a long term member and have been building audio gear for over fifty years. My first amp was a mono tube amp on a bare Al chassis in my late teens. I think the tube may have been a EL84. A local friend bought it from me.
Speaking mainly about power amps I swing both ways. I love my tubes and enjoy my SS amps. Both for what each brings to the sonic table. My three complete systems are 99% DIY. I don’t buy any commercial gear I can make, none.
I love building tube amps, really “dig” their sound and look. Most of my tube amps are low power SE UL stereo or mono. There appears to be an inner glow which shines through and just makes all music feel rich, romantic and warm. Beautiful textures appear to bubble up trough the system and just hook you in. Most of my amps are about 2W and fortunately my horn and 12” woofer system is 90db efficient. Playing at good levels with just a few watts is easy with classical, jazz or melodic rock music.
The down side may be a slight drop in deep bass. My speakers are good for 30hZ assisted by room nodes. My tube delights get down to an easy 50 or 40hZ. So not a huge loss. The bass drive is also a little lighter. Once again i never feel like I’m missing anything.
Speaking of SS gear Ive built quite a number of high power AB, Class A and Class D amps. All with their own character. I have built many of all classes and quite a few commission jobs. My 300/500W Holton module builds (built eight to date) are super transparent you can see right through to the performance, crystal clear and super low distortion. Bass is not only deep, easily hitting the 30hZ mark and beyond but controlled with an iron fist. 16X150W lateral power FETs insure this backed with a 625W tranni and 80,000uf of storage. Highs are crisp and sibilance perfectly controlled. An end-of-game amp.
With that clarity, transparency and bass perfection you would wonder why slip in a 2W SE UL 6L6 tube amp in a wine box for a month or two now and then. Because each amp, SS or tube has its own character, it’s speciality which can touch your musical soul and with the amp gets you onboard. Both SS and tube have their place in your listen realm you just need to find the ones which work with you and for you for those musical mystical times. Don’t be hard and fast in one camp when you can have a foot in both.
Speaking mainly about power amps I swing both ways. I love my tubes and enjoy my SS amps. Both for what each brings to the sonic table. My three complete systems are 99% DIY. I don’t buy any commercial gear I can make, none.
I love building tube amps, really “dig” their sound and look. Most of my tube amps are low power SE UL stereo or mono. There appears to be an inner glow which shines through and just makes all music feel rich, romantic and warm. Beautiful textures appear to bubble up trough the system and just hook you in. Most of my amps are about 2W and fortunately my horn and 12” woofer system is 90db efficient. Playing at good levels with just a few watts is easy with classical, jazz or melodic rock music.
The down side may be a slight drop in deep bass. My speakers are good for 30hZ assisted by room nodes. My tube delights get down to an easy 50 or 40hZ. So not a huge loss. The bass drive is also a little lighter. Once again i never feel like I’m missing anything.
Speaking of SS gear Ive built quite a number of high power AB, Class A and Class D amps. All with their own character. I have built many of all classes and quite a few commission jobs. My 300/500W Holton module builds (built eight to date) are super transparent you can see right through to the performance, crystal clear and super low distortion. Bass is not only deep, easily hitting the 30hZ mark and beyond but controlled with an iron fist. 16X150W lateral power FETs insure this backed with a 625W tranni and 80,000uf of storage. Highs are crisp and sibilance perfectly controlled. An end-of-game amp.
With that clarity, transparency and bass perfection you would wonder why slip in a 2W SE UL 6L6 tube amp in a wine box for a month or two now and then. Because each amp, SS or tube has its own character, it’s speciality which can touch your musical soul and with the amp gets you onboard. Both SS and tube have their place in your listen realm you just need to find the ones which work with you and for you for those musical mystical times. Don’t be hard and fast in one camp when you can have a foot in both.
A good point.
For me it is mostly about the musical window each amp offers. No amp is equally capable of playing all genres, and individual music preferences, together with speaker choices determine the outcome.
Multiamping can offer another solution but is usually tied strictly to a particular speaker and is always high maintenance.
If i am forced to choose a single amp for everything it is definitely SS. Less magic but also less music mangling
If I had to choose one (and only one) it would be SS, just because it could be run forever without ever having to buy more tubes.
I’ve gotten my solid state builds to the point where I don’t feel a need for improvement, sound quality wise. So I use my good amps to listen to music and watch TV/movies, and “play” with vintage components and topologies for fun and something to do. And see how many watts I can make using the biggest transformers I can find and as many power transistors as it takes for my PA work. Never mind that I’m just “supposed to” just go buy a rack full of $6000-each Labgruppens, this is a hobby and I’m not going to spend that, end of story.
Then a couple years back I started playing with tubes, again. I fooled around with them in the late 90’s, then set it all aside during my last phase of solid state refinement. I did enjoy the “tube sound” I recalled from my very early years (back in the 70’s), and liked fooling around with vintage gear. After a few years of on again off again tube experiments recently - I decided to go big or go home. I “designed” a 200 watt mono block thinking it would be for a bass guitar or something, and ended up being absolutely shocked by the sound. Wasn’t a direct copy of anything, just what I’d do to make 200 clean watts and be able to drive the snot out of it without it blowing like a Phase Linear would. And use all New Sensor tubes, so I could be sure to get more in 10 years. Turned out to look an awful lot like an SVT, having never even seen the schematic for one until after I built it. It didn’t “sound” like a tube amp at all - it was every bit as good as what I had built into an old burnt out Bose 1801 chassis. Sounded like a solid state amp - a VERY GOOD, very large one. Oh, now I need stereo. Another 6-pack of 6550’s and another Hammond 1650W. So what now? Mostly playing with sweep tubes and making custom transformers (making something out of nothing, which is what the “DIY” aspect is supposed to be all about).
I’ve gotten my solid state builds to the point where I don’t feel a need for improvement, sound quality wise. So I use my good amps to listen to music and watch TV/movies, and “play” with vintage components and topologies for fun and something to do. And see how many watts I can make using the biggest transformers I can find and as many power transistors as it takes for my PA work. Never mind that I’m just “supposed to” just go buy a rack full of $6000-each Labgruppens, this is a hobby and I’m not going to spend that, end of story.
Then a couple years back I started playing with tubes, again. I fooled around with them in the late 90’s, then set it all aside during my last phase of solid state refinement. I did enjoy the “tube sound” I recalled from my very early years (back in the 70’s), and liked fooling around with vintage gear. After a few years of on again off again tube experiments recently - I decided to go big or go home. I “designed” a 200 watt mono block thinking it would be for a bass guitar or something, and ended up being absolutely shocked by the sound. Wasn’t a direct copy of anything, just what I’d do to make 200 clean watts and be able to drive the snot out of it without it blowing like a Phase Linear would. And use all New Sensor tubes, so I could be sure to get more in 10 years. Turned out to look an awful lot like an SVT, having never even seen the schematic for one until after I built it. It didn’t “sound” like a tube amp at all - it was every bit as good as what I had built into an old burnt out Bose 1801 chassis. Sounded like a solid state amp - a VERY GOOD, very large one. Oh, now I need stereo. Another 6-pack of 6550’s and another Hammond 1650W. So what now? Mostly playing with sweep tubes and making custom transformers (making something out of nothing, which is what the “DIY” aspect is supposed to be all about).
Solid State Pre-amp.
I need a new Pandemic Project, so I would like to build a really good SS pre-amp to feed my 300B SET. It must have volume, balance and tone controls and have at least 4 selectable inputs. Can you suggest a design?
I need a new Pandemic Project, so I would like to build a really good SS pre-amp to feed my 300B SET. It must have volume, balance and tone controls and have at least 4 selectable inputs. Can you suggest a design?
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A better shot of the 6C33C OTL. ESP? Can you give me a link? Thanks.
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