Has anybody here heard a tube amp and not liked the sound?

No offense, but that is about as open-ended of a question as, "Have you ever tried food you haven't liked?"

There is a great misconception that tube amps are warm and syrupy.  Sure, some are.  But, so are some solid state amps.  Some tube amps are ice cold.  In my opinion, the only major difference between solid state and tube amps is the latter's ability to have better holographic imaging.  The rest of voicing differences  depend on the circuit design and implementation.

3D, realistic imaging.
 

Yup... it's a silly question.   It's like comparing chinese food to american food.  Which is spicier?  Well are you looking at traditional southern cooking, tex/mex -vs- cantonese or hunan regions. There are general expectations people have about solid state (say tight and cold) -vs- tube sound (mellow and warm), but the reality you need to compare amp to amp.  It's really more about the circuit design and the quality of the components and implementation.  I have heard tube amplifiers which were awful and  others that were wonderful, and the same is true for solid state. Ironically my favor amps have often been hybrid using both solid state and tube components.

--mark

Quote:

Originally Posted by hodgjy 

It's actually imperfections with the tube sound. Distortions and harmonics are often pleasing and make for more life like sounds than transistors.

Many people find imperfections "pleasing"; many don't. Electronically created imperfections can't "make for more life like sounds" except for someone whose life is colored by distortion and harmonics.

But, these are headphones and not real life. All the matters is the listener's pleasure. If tubes are it, tube away! If solid-state is it, SS away!

If I make a tube amp that sounds awful, I would never sell it. That goes most of the time with tube amp designers. They try to create a product that you and I would buy and enjoy listening to. Its also in the ears of the beholder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wuwhere 

If I make a tube amp that sounds awful, I would never sell it. That goes most of the time with tube amp designers. They try to create a product that you and I would buy and enjoy listening to. Its also in the ears of the beholder.

I agree. They're not trying to produce something that sounds bad. If their customers find pleasure in their "ears of the beholder", they'll recommend them to friends and family. They'll buy another product from you. They'll be pleased with their purchase. That's the way it should be.

(Of course, some shady companies sell crummy stuff. Some use tubes and some don't but crummy is crummy either way.)

Stax T1 unless paired with lambada, anything else was bright and wearisome!

Anything based on the KT88 tubes for output for me, never liked the sound of those KT88's no matter how it's implemented.