So where should the tubes be?


Source, preamp, dac, amp? Or should they be in as many components as possible? Does anyone subscribe to such a system where there are tubes everywhere?  Base answer on acceptance of tubes somewhere.
jpwarren58

Showing 3 responses by larryi

Where tubes make the biggest impact on the sound is the amplifier.  But, good tube amplifiers also represent the highest cost in making a switch (good output transformers are particularly expensive and important to the sound), so that might not be where one would start.  Also, the matching of a tube amplifier to the speaker is critically important, so you will need to either have some experience or some help in that area (e.g., a good dealer).
It depends on a lot of design considerations.  If the component has AC from the power outlet converted to DC by a tube rectifier, that is at least one tube.  Some gear also use tubes to regulate voltage.  At earlier stages of amplification, most, but not all, use tubes that are actually two tubes in one glass envelope doing two functions.  Different circuit designs will require different amounts of tubes even at early stages of amplification.

As for the output stage, both design type and amount of output power determine the number of tubes.  A single-ended amp can have as few as one output tube per channel.  Push pull amps will have at least two tubes per channel, and the specific amount of tubes will depend on the amount of power the amp is designed to supply and the amount of power delivered by the specific type of tube chosen (different tubes vary greatly on output, my push pull amp with four output tubes per channel delivers only 5 watts per channel, a different design might deliver 100 watts).  Then there are output transformer less amps that typically have many output tubes because they utilize many tubes in parallel to instead of a transformer to deliver the power in the form that can be used by the speaker.
I don’t think one can really experience what is special about tubes if the amp is not a tube amp.  But, it is critical to audition the candidates and to choose the right amp for the particular speaker, room conditions, volume requirement, etc.  It is far easier to end up with the wrong tube amp than a wrong line stage or source component.