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Thanks for pointing that out!
I'm curious though about the effects of tubes. I always thought tube amps in general had that kind of sound, and tube rolling could heighten or lessen the effect.
What purpose does the tube serve in the circuit?
Tubes are actually more linear than transistors, believe it or not. It's
transistors have a tendency toward higher distortion. Surprised? I was. Audiophile myths are crazy. You'd think tubes did nothing but introduce junk into an amp's sound if you listened to some of these people railing against them. Good tube amps tend to be more expensive. Some people have a knee jerk reaction when you suggest cost = performance. Of course, there are plenty of solid state amps that are better than a lot of crappy tube amps. And not all expensive tube amps are better; some expensive tube amps SUCK. Like, really suck. But yeah, some of the best amps I've ever heard are expensive tube amps. So people think that must be a sham because they've read some papers online and fancy themselves experts and live in this constructed fantasy where
anyone spending more than they do is a fool who has been "tricked" into thinking their tubes are speychul when in fact they're just paying more for amps that are adding junk into the signal.
Plus there's this weird push among some publications to association musicality with highly colored sound. Like, a bloated boomy bass is supposed to be musical or something. I guess.
Plus you got the influx of cheap-o tube amps that sound like crap. It's the amp's fault though, NOT the tubes!
Tubes or not, many of the very experienced amp designers I've talked to on the subject agree that measurements are very important but
not the end-all-be-all. They listen. If a design doesn't measure quite as well as another but sounds better to them, then they opt for that latter choice. Of course some amp designers will disagree and always go with what measures best. These amps tend to sound a bit... tight arsed, however. Too flat... not in terms of FR, but in terms of dynamic character. Two dimensional. Musically necrotic.
Yes, there's that dreaded word: musicality. It's been abused so much it has next-to-no-meaning now, but eh. I think either extreme is ridiculous: either making an amp sound like the Dead Sea or making it sound like marshmallow fluff. And once again I'll remind you that I'm not talking about solid state versus tube necessarily, but just different
end goal philosophies that can be approximated in either way to varying degrees. There are plenty of solid state amps that sound like marshmallow fluff, and plenty of tube amps that sound like the Dead Sea.
It's all just differing methodology. The whole "wire with gain" thing is a load of BS too. There is no neutral amp. "Neutrality" is a moving target. A convenient reference point for relative comparisons.
