Are you sure?

[ahofer]

There is DSP available to simulate tube guitar amps. I highly doubt you can get there with just EQ. Often the amps feature sagging screen voltage and other distortion mechanisms.

Indeed. And even so, the interaction of magnetic pickup, stressed/worn tubes, and borderline feedback becomes an instrument in and of itself, that can be manipulated by how the player handles the strings, changes pickup settings, and moves around. I have played with a few simulators, and they lacked that flexibility.

I can imagine listening to music that way (much like a DJ will blend and alter records together), but it isn't my particular cup of tea.

 

[egellings]

Guitar amps are a special breed. One example is that the screen supply for the final amps often sags substantially when you're getting on it. Some tetrode kink oscillations even occur. All part of the sound, though.

I feel so sorry for any poor little tube subjected to such torture. The inhumanity of it!

 

[fpitas]

I feel so sorry for any poor little tube subjected to such torture. The inhumanity of it!

They age fast. But guitar players tell me that's ok if they get the right sound.

 

[egellings]

They age fast. But guitar players tell me that's ok if they get the right sound.

800Vdc on the plate of a hapless little EL34. Ouch!

 

[egellings]

I've always felt that way too. Why bother making a tube amp sound like an SS amp?

But then, that's from the perspective of someone like me, who likes the idea of tube amps sounding different.

I can imagine that someone who values accuracy may still find tube amps are kinda cool, aesthetically and conceptually, and may be in to building amps too, so achieving a high performance tube amp would sort of give them a kick and the best of both worlds.

My home brewed tube amp mono-blocks & preamp fall into that category.

 

[egellings]

Get a Nixie Clock and an amp with good specs. Done

Nope. Nixie tubes lack that pretty blue glow you often see near the glass on output tubes. Plus, with nixies, there's no music. And, you don't gits to adjust yer grid bias with a nixie, since they have no grids. Tubes are fiddly & fun. If you don't like them then just pass them by. It's a hobby. I might not like doing chores inherent in some other hobby I don't have, too. Tube designs can have distortion low enough that it's not audible. Granted, 0.00......00001% THD is not likely possible with tube designs and may well be achievable with S.S. ones, But the SINAD just need to be sufficient to make the distortion inaudible. And then there's the pet like affection some tube amp owners have for their equipment, even if it does occasionally piddle on the sonic carpet. I like my home-brewed ones, and that certainly um, biases me toward them. In summary: tube designs can have specs good enough to allow for good sound even if they cannot match something the new Benchmark amp. To each their own.