Tube amplifiers

[cleansoundzz 10+ year member]

What kind of components do tube amplifiers have inside of them? What makes them sound so different in comparison with other amplifiers? ZED made some for Planet Audio in the mid 1990's. Just curious about them.

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[gunz4me 10+ year member]

In my opinion, I always found that tube amps had a warmer, smoother sound. When I was a kid in the late 70s early 80s, I was running a tube amp in my bedroom that one of my father's friends gave to me. The only down side is it was hard to find replacement tubes and I junked it when I was in high school.

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think the modern day Planet Audio "tube amps" were just a gimmick and a marketing ploy. Sure, they may not clip as hard as pure transistor amps, but they are by no means a pure tube design. When it boils down to it, clipping is about the only area that I can think of where tube amps are better than your run of the mill class a/b amps because the tubes generally clip softer and aren't as harsh sounding when driven into clipping.

 

[dipitydoo 10+ year member]

just about all 'tube' amps made for car audio have tubes in the input stage and transistors in the output stage.

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

vacuum tubes

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

i'm guessing it's the tubes