Why so many tubes?


Many of the most expensive tube amps/preamp have multiple tubes...6, 8, 10. If direct path is preferred in the speaker by most, why the acceptance of a glass army in one's amp/preamp? 
jpwarren58
@ghasley

Yeah, you gearheads are too deep in the weeds on this.

The point...the general point...is that you can run a bunch of small tubes softly (small piston v-12 jaguar) vs fewer big tubes (big block American V8) run really hard. " Depends on the designers goals".

Do you get it now? It’s the general idea as an analogy.

It’s just a valid comparison...not the exact same thing.
Actually thats a great comparison, a v12 Jab vs a big block American v8. I know which one Id rather drive cross country!

A single output tube per channel is the best sound quality, each additional power tube thereafter introduces more and more audible tradeoffs.
AWD Porsche Turbo = all weather attack jet.  Displacement HP is meaningless IF ya can’t it connected to pavement….Ask those helpless Vette or Viper jockeys… Dry day might be a gunfight…

Systems engineering !
Seems like a complicated way to reproduce music
Yes, it is. It’s taking sound vibrations, storing it on a physical media, then retrieving the signal, modifying and amplifying the signal as needed to drive transducers in speakers. It’s an imperfect process, a facsimile of reality, but that’s all we got for now.

Then you have high end audio which emphasizes quality sonics which often means: lowering the noise floor, minimizing EMF and RFI interference, cleaning the AC power, minimizing distortion, shortening the signal paths, minimizing internal vibrations, controlling case vibrations, designing better circuits, using higher quality/specification parts, using cutting edge materials and techniques,...etc.
@jpwarren58
And I am open to SS to being more complicated.

You do not need to “be open to it”… just pull the lid off one, and like Rev:6 “come and see”.