inSync reader C. N. asks. “So what is all the fuss about tube gear anyway? Is there really a big difference in sound from solid state gear?”
“Big” is a relative term so I would hate to try to quantify it, but in a word, yes, there is a difference in the sound of tube equipment versus solid state gear. How much difference will vary from piece to piece. I am not about to try to get into a discussion of the history or theory of tube and solid state gear and why we are where we are with both technologies right now.
Vacuum tubes as an electronic device operate so differently from a typical solid state transistor that even if the tubes themselves somehow sounded the same as transistors, the surrounding circuitry required to make them both work and interface with other equipment would change the sonic characteristics anyway. The difference is analogous to an electric automobile versus one with an internal combustion engine. They’ll both get you to work, but there are a list of pros and cons that make one better than the other depending upon the circumstances (including the current drift of the marketplace).
In terms of the sound, tubes and transistors differ in their linearity. What this means is that as electric audio signals pass through them they each will pass the audio with some amount of various types of distortion added. The way in which tubes and transistors distort these signals is a fundamental difference that is important to us in the audio community. One of the most notable differences is in the harmonic distortion (see WFTD above “harmonic distortion) component of tubes. They will tend to produce lower order harmonics where a transistor will tend to produce higher order harmonics. They do sound different. Most people will say that a tube distorts better than a transistor. But those same people will often agree that transistors are usually more linear (produce less distortion) in their ideal operating range. The gist of this is that while tubes and transistors always do sound different, that difference is significantly magnified when the device is pushed into its non linear range. In other words, when you drive a device into distortion tubes usually sound better doing it that solid state devices.
This is all subjective and your actual results may vary. I merely speak from what seems to be the common sense understanding of this in the industry right now. Also, there are more devices and software programs on the market today than ever that emulate tube type distortion so often times it is not actually necessary to have tubes to get a tube type sound. Again this is subjective. I don’t expect tube gear or the emulating products to become less popular in the near future.
