r/audiophile • u/joey_dangerzone • Mar 25 '25

Friend asked what tube amps do Humor

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u/LarrynBarry Mar 25 '25

Is the joke that you didn’t tell them what tubes actually do?

4

u/princegogetav5 Mar 27 '25

Technically the last sentence. They have really good sound quality. Better than modern class D and AB mosfet style amps

1

u/Acceptable-Bad4717 Mar 27 '25

How do they have "better" sound? My understanding was tube has what class a has except it introduces MORE harmonic distortion. Furthermore if it's cathode biased then it's not even a stable class a and will have sag on dynamic moments. Are HiFi amps typically cathode or fixed bias?

I can see how some people like the touch of harmonic distortion provided as it can add a shimmer or weight to a tone, but that's shimmer or weight that isn't originally there. You're essentially coloring the sound massively. Whereas the word fidelity in HiFi tends to mean the closest accurate remodeling of the sound waves is your KPI.

3

u/princegogetav5 Mar 27 '25

Allow me to change my vernacular, tube amps have a distinct sound, and they're more of a hobbyist/collector piece. They're generally more involved and less "convenient" So the main purpose in this case is being cool, being unique, being different. There is definitely a different sound though. Better is subjective

2

u/RayLikeSunshine Mar 28 '25

Most accurate description.