Valve Vs Solid State amps

[floyd droid]

I wondered where you'd been hiding!

Lol, ive been following the thread sitting on my fingers.

The normal mix of ill informed (i.e. never even heard a valve based amp) twaddle and folk with good ears 8) . Leave you to it mate as peeps can type posts about this til the cows come home, and PP will be none the bloody wiser until he listens to a few different valve amps.

 

[CnoEvil]

Lol, ive been following the thread sitting on my fingers.

Leave you to it mate as peeps can type posts about this til the cows come home, and PP will be none the bloody wiser until he listens to a few different valve amps.

Thx!

BTW I own a Golf......does that count!

 

[floyd droid]

Most deffo yes cos so do i 8)

 

[floyd droid]

whoops double bubble,lol.

 

[CnoEvil]

Most deffo yes cos so do i 8)

Mine's a Tube/Diesel Hybrid (GT TDH)! :roll:

 

[Richard Allen]

I wondered where you'd been hiding!

Lol, ive been following the thread sitting on my fingers.

The normal mix of ill informed (i.e. never even heard a valve based amp) twaddle and folk with good ears 8) . Leave you to it mate as peeps can type posts about this til the cows come home, and PP will be none the bloody wiser until he listens to a few different valve amps.

You'll never get him away from his Leema Pulse. One combination I quite liked was a valve pre and a Class D power amp. The valve front end 'seemed' to intermesh better than with an AB amp.

 

[Richard Allen]

Valves will never produce ss-amp bass. But many can make forget about that! The other way around, ss-sound can not make forget valves (to me).

Disagree with the bass issue completely. I've heard some SE Valve amps that have obscene bottom end response and cleaner than SS.

 

[plastic penguin]

I wondered where you'd been hiding!

Lol, ive been following the thread sitting on my fingers.

The normal mix of ill informed (i.e. never even heard a valve based amp) twaddle and folk with good ears 8) . Leave you to it mate as peeps can type posts about this til the cows come home, and PP will be none the bloody wiser until he listens to a few different valve amps.

You'll never get him away from his Leema Pulse. One combination I quite liked was a valve pre and a Class D power amp. The valve front end 'seemed' to intermesh better than with an AB amp.

Too true. That's not the point of the thread. As I said from the outset I wanted to know the difference between valve and SS, NOT which is better.

 

[CnoEvil]

You'll never get him away from his Leema Pulse.

This is all about clandestine "Black OPs"......a surreptitious brainwashing excercise, that pays dividends in the future.

One day, PP will wake up, and without quite knowing why, will have aquired a box full of Tubes and wires!!

He will only realize the true extent of his actions, when standing knee deep in a puddle of water, that was his his igloo.....his own personal global warming!......it'll be worth it though.

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

Too true. That's not the point of the thread. As I said from the outset I wanted to know the difference between valve and SS, NOT which is better.

so in this case I think you're asking the wrong questions. you shouldn't be asking "what's the difference between tube and SS technology". instead you should be asking "who lives near me who has a tube amp so I could pop in for a listen" if you want to find out what the difference really is. comments from members, while valuable, will tell you close to nought what the difference is.

EDIT: not because the members on the forum ain't know s**t about valve technology. that's not what I think. but because first hand experience is all that matters.

 

[floyd droid]

so in this case I think you're asking the wrong questions. you shouldn't be asking "what's the difference between tube and SS technology". instead you should be asking "who lives near me who has a tube amp so I could pop in for a listen" if you want to find out what the difference really is. comments from members, while valuable, will tell you close to nought what the difference is.

EDIT: not because the members on the forum ain't know s**t about valve technology. that's not what I think. but because first hand experience is all that matters.

I rest my case.

 

[CnoEvil]

comments from members, while valuable, will tell you close to nought what the difference is.

Hurrumph!

You mean all my elaborate waffle has come to naught! :wall:

 

[floyd droid]

He will only realize the true extent of his actions, when standing knee deep in a puddle of water, that was his his igloo.....his own personal global warming!......it'll be worth it though.

Nah, that will be a puddle of wee as he wets himself listening to how music 'should' sound via loudspeakers.Instead of what he thought was brilliant (which in actual fact was muddled hash from 30 bobs worth of trannies)

 

[plastic penguin]

He will only realize the true extent of his actions, when standing knee deep in a puddle of water, that was his his igloo.....his own personal global warming!......it'll be worth it though.

Nah, that will be a puddle of wee as he wets himself listening to how music 'should' sound via loudspeakers.Instead of what he thought was brilliant (which in actual fact was muddled hash from 30 bobs worth of trannies)

Come on, chaps. If I really wanted a valve set-up I'd go and buy a CRT.

 

[floyd droid]

Lol. Nowt wrong wi them either.

 

[plastic penguin]

He will only realize the true extent of his actions, when standing knee deep in a puddle of water, that was his his igloo.....his own personal global warming!......it'll be worth it though.

Nah, that will be a puddle of wee as he wets himself listening to how music 'should' sound via loudspeakers.Instead of what he thought was brilliant (which in actual fact was muddled hash from 30 bobs worth of trannies)

Or could wake up and realise how much I was missing with live music. The Leema is brilliant in this aspect. Even the goosebumps had goosebumps. Then I'll have a real puddle.

"Nobody does it wetter..." :cheer:

 

[CnoEvil]

Or could wake up and realise how much I was missing with live music. The Leema is brilliant in this aspect. Even the goosebumps had goosebumps. Then I'll have a real puddle.

"Nobody does it wetter..." :cheer:

Eyes wide shut!

 

[plastic penguin]

Or could wake up and realise how much I was missing with live music. The Leema is brilliant in this aspect. Even the goosebumps had goosebumps. Then I'll have a real puddle.

"Nobody does it wetter..." :cheer:

Eyes wide shut!

So last year...

Synonymous with all hi-fi idi... ahem... enthusiasts.

 

[CnoEvil]

So last year...

Excuse me Mr.Penguin.....I'm so last century!

 

[plastic penguin]

So last year...

Excuse me Mr.Penguin.....I'm so last century!

I know - the cobwebs are dreadful. I'll get Hudson to have a spring clean, and parlour maids to prepare my bread and hedgehog soup. :cheers:

 

[Richard Allen]

You'll never get him away from his Leema Pulse.

This is all about clandestine "Black OPs"......a surreptitious brainwashing excercise, that pays dividends in the future.

One day, PP will wake up, and without quite knowing why, will have aquired a box full of Tubes and wires!

Yeah but it's sod all use without a circuit diagram!!!:rofl:

 

[CnoEvil]

Yeah but it's sod all use without a circuit diagram!!!:rofl:

It's really no odds, as he will probably put it straight in the attic with all the other unloved gubbins!

 

[Roby]

:? mmm all this make me want organise a demo AMS Primo/35 or 50p....as the primo is a tube pré....

I know my dealer said it lost a little of his magic compared to the AMS....

But now reading this tread an a other French one where they actually talk a lot about this combo (an it is a tube/ss combo).

Made me really curious.....

 

[Covenanter]

To add some context, when I did my first degree, which was in Electronics, in 1968-71 we did courses in valve technology and circuit design and transistor technology and circuit design and everybody on the course was building their own amps (and all kinds of other gadgets). And guess what! Some people thought valve amps sounded better and some thought transistor amps sounded better. So the debate has been running for over 40 years and from what I read it is no closer to being resolved now than it was then.

In principle valve amps could be very simple in design. The old "record players" of that era, which everybody owned, usually had two valves and one of those was the rectifier and the amp was normally some triode valve and there was one capacitor and one resistor. You could build one in 1/2 hour and my uncle and I could repair them in short order (my uncle had a "record shop" and we did repairs on the side). The simpler the circuit and the fewer the number of components the less the circuit will add/subtract to/from the signal being amplified so in that sense valve amps should be "purer". Of course there are downsides to valves, they tend to get very hot and they are inherently microphonic, ie sound vibrations will be picked up by the valves and will modify their performance. Good design is needed to minimise these issues.

So as others have said you need to listen and decide what you think sounds best and if you find you prefer valve amps whether you can live with the practical issues (and of course whether you can afford them).

Chris

 

[plastic penguin]

Think that valve amps were more accessible back in the 60s and 70s. By that I mean they were more price friendly, whereas now you need to spend a good 2k to get a red-hot sounding valve amp.

Before anyone starts showing online websites, there's no such thing, to my knowledge, of top quality budget valve or tube amps, below £500.