Keith G wrote:
Two visitors this afternoon who dragged themselves to mine (from Nottingham,
no less) to hear my Triode amp wre obviously deeply impressed and asked me
'How did you get into valves, then?

Answer: Easy - I tried dozens of ss amps and none of them hit the mark. The
minute I swapped a Parasound 5 channel arc welder (HC1205A ??) for a valve
amp, I never looked back!

That's two kids in their 20's into valves *already* - one to get a triode
amp next week and the other sometime in the near future!

Ya hafta larf!!

:-)



Aye, nab 'em while they're young!

I've only got into the valve thing quite recently having shown a passing
interest for many years. Curiosity sated as a result of having the money
and the current choice - ebay in particular. And I'd have to add Keith G
and his advice and photo journals (and others on this ng).

I now have SS and valve amps and I prefer the way valve amps deal with
the music. There's the sound (the physical amplification) which quite
surprised me - not 'lush', limited (in loudness and dynacism) or
distorted as I'd been led to believe. The main asset is the sense of
depth they manage to relay, while losing very little in terms of detail.
I don't think this phenomenon measures - you'd just have to listen.

Then there's the 'hobbyist' thing - the look, feel, and almost
manageable understanding of how the things work and relative ease of
maintenance. And there's a tangible sense of 'built to last' - i'd bet
that by proportional sales valve amps occupy far less landfill than SS
cousins (even given valve replacements).

I quite often get friends ask me about hifi and I never recommend valve
amps at the outset. I try to figure out what they want and what they
have to spend, and most of the time it just involves a trip to Richer
sounds - amp, tuner, cd chosen by look/price, and usually a bit extra
for speakers depending on their room (two fundamentals IMO). My point
here is that valves are not for all - Keith made that clear to me (not
sure if he meant to!) - there are costs of ownership related to
heat/exposed valves (kids and animals) and valve replacement every few
years.

And it has to be said that a lot of people don't care about the sound
quality of an amplifier at this level - they'd detect 'difference'
without judging either better or worse - except perhaps on extended
listening when (of course!) they'd choose valves.

Rob