Tube amps?

[asianinvasion21 10+ year member]

Just wondering if somebody can give me the 101 on tube amps. I was fortunate enough to hear a butler amp powering some oz speakers and it sounded awesome. All I know is tube home amplifiers are way expensive. I was wondering what brands make them and why they are so expensive. I also heard u had to service these mugs from the person that had them. Thx for the info

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[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

They arent all the practical for car audio applications... If you must have one though you better be ready to drop some major cash on amps

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Do you have 4000$?

Milbert Amplifiers, Most Musical Amplifiers

 

[asianinvasion21 10+ year member]

Dayum thats way expensive! Ive seen butler tubes for like 5 to 7 bills which is more practical lol. What makes them so expensive tho is it the tubes or build quality or the fact that they are just rare and limited in general. What tube amps have u guys actualy heard? I mean I cant compare brands cause ive only heard one.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Tube amplifiers are a preference. I haven't heard one but they're for someone who likes the sound of a lot of distortion making that "warm" characteristic. Part of why they're so expensive is the people who like that sort of thing are pulled in by the marketing and the appeal of exclusivity. The vacuum tubes are hand made, as I believe they can't be assembled by robots. You can look on YouTube to see an example of how they're built and how they work. Glass blowing is an art form.

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

You talking home or car audio? I own a tube guitar amp, as well as a tube (preamp) car amp. By googling how tube amps work and general information like that, you'll get much better write-ups than you will here. But tubes by nature introduce some extra noise and distortion, but it's 2nd and 3rd order harmonics generally depending on the class of amplifier, and extremely pleasing to our ears. That's why they sound so good. Plus they are much more powerful, generally you multiply the tube amps rating by 2.5 to get a comparable wattage in a SS (solid state) amp.

 

[asianinvasion21 10+ year member]

Im refering to car tube amps. Ive heard home theatre systems that use tubes and I do believe they have a warm natural sound to them. I just wasnt sure about which brands people have ran and had success with. Anyone know how often u service them.