Valves?!?!

[max8899]

I am sure i will get bombarded with 'use the search function' replies but I did look to no avail. Well here goes
A. i know what valves are and I have been led to believe that they 'colour' the tone and alos I have been told you dont need as many watts to make it louder. Is this true
and B. How do they work
I in all my 15 years of experiance of life have not the mental capacity to grasp the complicated explanations on wikipedia or the half assed explanations of music teachers and shop workers
your help is very much appreciated

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

For the love of the higher power anyone believes in, NOT tube vs. SS watts again, the last thread hasn't been dead, what, 6 hours yet? Could You do yourself a favour and edit that part out of your post, unless you want this thread to be dead in couple of hours too.

Valves aka. tubes. An electromechanical device to regulate large voltage or current swing with small voltage or current swing. Transistors and FETs do the same thing with semiconductive material.

The characteristics are different, so the sound (in our case) is different. Also the behaviour when we try to make the devices outperform themselves powerwise, is different and again the sound reproduced is different.

Which one is better is entirely up to the person using the equipment or up to the person listening the said music.

Just my 0.02€
Sam

 

[vin*tone]

Think of them like movie projectors.

In a projector you have a powerful light source running through a small image on film which creates a big image on a screen at the end of the room that everyone can see.

In an amplifier tube....

The movie projector is at the bottom (filament/cathode) the screen is at the top (plate) and your bass signal, "input voltage", is the film (grid). The electron flow through the tube is shaped by the AC signal at the grid giving you an amplified signal at "output voltage".

 

[B-string]

Think of them like movie projectors.

In a projector you have a powerful light source running through a small image on film which creates a big image on a screen at the end of the room that everyone can see.

In an amplifier tube....

The movie projector is at the bottom (filament/cathode) the screen is at the top (plate) and your bass signal, "input voltage", is the film (grid). The electron flow through the tube is shaped by the AC signal at the grid giving you an amplified signal at "output voltage".

Nice! I'll give that an "A" for a non-techie answer.

 

[Kelly Lee]

Let it be known...

Anyone turns this into a discussion about perceived volume difference or Tube vs SS watts and I will lock this baby down in a heartbeat.

 

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

B. How do they work
I in all my 15 years of experiance of life have not the mental capacity to grasp the complicated explanations on wikipedia or the half assed explanations of music teachers and shop workers
your help is very much appreciated

If you're real curious, I'm sure one of those guys has already explained it much more adequately than I will, but to be honest you really don't need to know much more than...

Power tubes (the big ones) amplify your sound and as more voltage is pushed through them, it affects the tone in a different way than SS power sections do. They "clip" just like SS power sections but many more people feel that it's softer and the breakup is more "musical"...this is essentially what overdrive is.

Preamp tubes (small ones, usually 12AX7 type) handle the shaping of your tone more than the amplification. If you want an amp that has "tube tone" but don't necessarily feel like you want tube breakup or clipping in the power section, the preamp tubes in a hybrid might give you what you're looking for.


for the most part, tubes take your signal and boost it for you so that it is amplified, and because of the materials they use and how they are constructed, you get different tonal qualities as compared to SS. As for volume, that's a debatable topic I won't touch on for lack of knowledge, but I hope some of my basic factoids were at least entertaining or helpful

 

[B-string]

Just as a side note for the OP. Different tube types (the ID number, 6L6GC/5881, 6550, EL34) sound different from each other due to the design of the tube. Tube manufacturers can also perform dirrerent from each other due to materials, tooling, production variances.