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VERY and I mean VERY diplomatic answers guys.


TuB3z SuXz0r.

Nah, seriously though... to add to JohnK and Ken's posts, while I prefer the cleaner solid state sound (assuming your amplification isn't overdriven!) for final playback, but like almost everyone on the planet, I prefer tubes where they make the most sense - in the original instrument amplification. A rock (blues, jazz) guitar and bass sound just ain't right without tube amplification. Micing a solid state amplifier for recording is almost as bad as using a DI (though I have to admit, a bass through a SansAmp sounds as good as amped and miced with a lot less hassle!). By the time it's mixed and pressed, though, it's mixed to sound right (except for pop recordings which are too heavily compressed for my tastes... (may Phil Spector rot in hell crushed under his Wall Of Sound)).

Playing back the recording through a tube amp adds another layer of overdrive, one that changes from system to system (and tube to tube as they deteriorate over time)... kind of like shaping the sound with an effects pedal you have no control over. Some people love the tube sound, some people love vinyl (NSFW), sound people love fuzzbox (safe for work) guitar, some people love mid-range.

Tubes get fans for a lot of reasons... the hipsters like them because they're so ironicly retro. The tweakers like them because, oddly enough, they're one of the few things you can have control of. You CAN stand out from everyone else that owns the same product as you by tinkering with it! Some like the warm, round sound it adds, while to others (like me) it sounds unclear and reminds me of the paper cone speakers I grew up with.

So when speaking of "better", JohnK is right - S/S amps are more accurate. If we're defining "better" as pleasing, then you and your ears are on your own.

Bren R.