What is the ultimate tube for passing the most realistic sound information?

David Matz -- Thu, 07/29/2010 - 10:44

Is it the 300B? Is something else?

marty817 -- Wed, 08/04/2010 - 20:24

curious
You probably haven't gotten any answers to your question because frankly, it wasn't a very good question. Tube design and use is application specific. At least ask what might be best tube for a given application; for example, for an amplifier or a preamplifier.
Marty

David Matz -- Thu, 08/05/2010 - 21:37

From my experience, I like the supertubes BAT pioneered in the preamp. I like the 300B tubes in headphone amps - the best headphone amps I have heard seem to use this tube.

As you can tell, I know nothing about tubes. There are input tubes, output tubes, rectifier tubes, driver tubes...I was hoping that someone would fill in the gaps.

Steven Stone -- Wed, 08/04/2010 - 22:53

A tube is a part.

The part only has relevance within a system. As Marty mentioned the kind of tube and circuit are of critical importance.

A more focused question has a much better chance of getting a useful answer.

Steven Stone
Contributor to The Absolute Sound, EnjoytheMusic.com, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and other fine publications

David Matz -- Thu, 08/05/2010 - 21:39

Thanks Mr. Stone. Do you (or anyone) know how much of the impact does the tube make vs. the circuit design? Does a designer pick a tube and design around it, or the other way around?