Would a pedal without a tube mean that there is no point in having a tube amp?

[Riverside]

... i used to be an audiophile, so i have some perspectives and knowledge from that that most guitarist/purist don't know or care about...

 

Golly.

[Andy R]

yea, it may seem like a debate to some, but i dont thing we are although the op topic is a debate-about the legitimacy of having a pedal without a tube. while the audiophile perspective is in a way hijacking, it relates diectly. and i say that andy, you get it. the whole point of me bringing up the point is there is a myth that both the audiophile community and the musician/pro sound cummunity have.

andy, you are correct in most ways and i'm impressed of your understanding as it is obvious you are not connected to the audiophile community. i would point out that there are in fact systems that do away with the preamp. your assesment of the lp is a good one as well. the word "transparency" is a common term. let me clarify that the goal of and audiophile "reproductive" system is to build a system the alters the signal as little as possible. and you cannot reproduce by replicating, you must preserve. so, ideally, if a saxaphone was recorded 5 feet and to the left of the mike, what you would hear is a saxaphone 5 feet and to the left of the speaker. and there is a tube vs solid state debate, and both have their challenges. what is not debated, is these inherent advantages of the transparencies of a tube vs. the inherent advantages of ss. here are 2 separate problems: a loss of information in the signal chain, and a alteration of the information in the signal chain. the debate in the audiophile community is which is more important? is it more acceptable to accept a a signal that has inaccuracies in its reproduction, such as an inflated loose bass or recessed treble or is it more acceptable to accept a signal that has proper proportion qualities at the cost of not getting all the origional signal? at the heart is this-transister devices have a tendancy to cloud the signal and block information coming trough, as well as have a sratchy, grainy reproduction in the treble. the general public tends to think exactly the opposite of reality, partly because of lack of awareness of these effects by transister devices, and most have never heard a descent tube stereo and experienced that kind of transparency to have an idea how much is left behind in a solid state design.

now, here is where it gets cool: as guitar players, we aren't concerned with colorations, we tend to like them. so the DISADVANTAGES of tubes in this way is not a detriment. what we often don't relize is that the inherent advantage of having MORE of the origional signal in the design of a typical tube amp. more of the information coming from your playing is happening playing a tube amp than a typical solid state amp. and this is true even as we color the sound and distort it.

now, the REAL debate as suggested by the op is if this tube only philosophy believed by some is doing what he thinks it does. the answer is clearly no. the thread here just got really deep in trying to explain/prove why.

 

r.l. burnside: "she asked me why. i just went on and told her"

 

OK I get ya. To me we're just having an interesting discussion.... I like to learn and hear others perspectives especially when it is on a subjective topic...

 

 

Andy

[Andy R]

 

 

That's Ok I didn't read yours either!