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Where Have All the Serious Audiophiles Gone?

SIY

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Copy. So basically tubes are “sort of directly” coupled to speakers and somehow match their impedance without help of transformers. Very interesting. Thanks.
Yeah, it’s a very clever circuit which I believe is let down by the implementation.
 

Get a hearing test

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My taste for good quality audio stays home when i walk out the door. I dont even notice how terrible the iems are when im more focused on not getting hit by passerby's. As long as its not truly awful sound, im not gonna care at all.
 

sergeauckland

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Yeah, it’s a very clever circuit which I believe is let down by the implementation.
I'm mystified as to why anyone would want to do that, other than to be different. The results are mediocre to say the least, and the cost is exorbitant. But then that fits in with so much of the 'high end'.

S.
 

SIY

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I'm mystified as to why anyone would want to do that, other than to be different. The results are mediocre to say the least, and the cost is exorbitant. But then that fits in with so much of the 'high end'.

S.
It allows better bandwidth and, in theory, better LF distortion. Major weight and cost savings as well. Transformers are the weak point in tube design, and this could, if well implemented, provide greatly improved performance.
 

sergeauckland

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It allows better bandwidth and, in theory, better LF distortion. Major weight and cost savings as well. Transformers are the weak point in tube design, and this could, if well implemented, provide greatly improved performance.
Perhaps so for a tube amp, but why would anyone choose today to design a tube amp when Class D can perform so much better and cheaper and with less power consumption? Even Class AB is better in every respect than a tube power amp.

S.
 

levimax

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Tubes and valves... obsolete technology, their place is in museums.

I am surprised in the current world political environment no one has mentioned that tube amps can survive an EMP attack ..... the day after the only way to play music will be tube amps and TT's running off of solar panels......
 

RichB

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Perhaps so for a tube amp, but why would anyone choose today to design a tube amp when Class D can perform so much better and cheaper and with less power consumption? Even Class AB is better in every respect than a tube power amp.

S.

You can build some excellent technical monuments using tubes.

- Rich
 

polmuaddib

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Perhaps so for a tube amp, but why would anyone choose today to design a tube amp when Class D can perform so much better and cheaper and with less power consumption? Even Class AB is better in every respect than a tube power amp.

S.
Because it is not always about being exact and right. And you don't have to have a big and heavy tube amp. It is more about the setting. You have a nice room with a view or a fireplace with someone special, some regular tube amp and some efficient speakers and you play some Dino or Frankie on a turntable.... But you gotta have tubes visible. None of that covered up awful designs. You gotta show tubes and transformers.
There is a TV show "Bosch" where he had Mcintosh tube amp in last season, btw.
 

MSTARK

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It allows better bandwidth and, in theory, better LF distortion. Major weight and cost savings as well. Transformers are the weak point in tube design, and this could, if well implemented, provide greatly improved performance.
And tubes suppose to run a lot cooler + extended longevity (I think +/-10years) according to their claims.
 

sergeauckland

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Because it is not always about being exact and right. And you don't have to have a big and heavy tube amp. It is more about the setting. You have a nice room with a view or a fireplace with someone special, some regular tube amp and some efficient speakers and you play some Dino or Frankie on a turntable.... But you gotta have tubes visible. None of that covered up awful designs. You gotta show tubes and transformers.
There is a TV show "Bosch" where he had Mcintosh tube amp in last season, btw.
So it's for show, not for quality, so not HiFi, just showing off.

With my functionalist view of life, I just don't understand it. HiFi equipment is a tool, just like a vacuum cleaner or a hammer, there to do a job, nothing else.

S
 

MSTARK

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I am surprised in the current world political environment no one has mentioned that tube amps can survive an EMP attack ..... the day after the only way to play music will be tube amps and TT's running off of solar panels......
Not only that. Tube base gear gets often restored and brought to life while everything else gets trashed. HiFi recycle if you will. Lol
Pretty sure you won’t see my Honda (technicality “superior”) on the road in 20 years while ChevyNova69 with turn heads long after that.
 

RayDunzl

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I am surprised in the current world political environment no one has mentioned that tube amps can survive an EMP attack ..... the day after the only way to play music will be tube amps and TT's running off of solar panels......

Better check your inverter circuit.

It might need a tube transplant.
 

polmuaddib

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So it's for show, not for quality, so not HiFi, just showing off.

With my functionalist view of life, I just don't understand it. HiFi equipment is a tool, just like a vacuum cleaner or a hammer, there to do a job, nothing else.

S
No it is not high fidelity, you are right. But it is not for showing off. It is to enjoy it when you are in a mood for that kind of sound signature... If you at all have those preferences inside you.
At least the way i see it and understand.
I have some friends that enjoy their Single Ended Tube amps and truly believe it is the best sound you can get. I know they are very wrong, but they are older and i am not arguing with them. Let them enjoy it.
But, I must admit i find some 50s and 60s Jazz really sounds nice on tube equipment, saxophone especially...
For me and most of my friends, HiFi is a hobby and something to enjoy after a hard day's work... not a tool.
Here i am defending tubes and i don't even own them... but i get them.
If i had a bigger home and more money and a place for a B system, i would surely buy some Mc 275s, bridge them and have some Sonus Faber Guarneri Memento and enjoy them very much. Of course, my main system would be solid state.
 

MakeMineVinyl

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So it's for show, not for quality, so not HiFi, just showing off.

S

In my case its a synergy choice. My speakers are horns and extremely efficient, and on the high frequencies (500Hz and above) I use a SET triode amp for two reasons; lack of any mechanism of crossover distortion and that the amp has an output limit of about 2.5 watts which protects the diaphrams in the compression drivers from being blown to bits which could happen with a powerful amp. Beyond this, I simply like tube amps because I don't want just "black boxes" in my listening room. Some interactivity of seeing the tubes actually doing something is to me just another level of the enjoyment. And that's what it ultimately comes down to - enjoyment, whatever means are used to get there.
 

MSTARK

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I don't have any excuses. I just love tubes.
 

JeffS7444

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I am surprised in the current world political environment no one has mentioned that tube amps can survive an EMP attack ..... the day after the only way to play music will be tube amps and TT's running off of solar panels......

Sure, as long as you stay within your energy budget: How does 25 watt-hours per day sound?
 

North_Sky

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Tubes and valves... obsolete technology, their place is in museums.

Or in homes of nostalgic/romantic audio people...audiofile historians. ...Like me. :)
 

Michael YYZ

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Indeed so. That’s going to be my main concern after a nuclear attack: listening to music! :eek:

I am surprised in the current world political environment no one has mentioned that tube amps can survive an EMP attack ..... the day after the only way to play music will be tube amps and TT's running off of solar panels......
 
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