New Amp Day

Happy New Amp Day.

Happy  new amp day.

congratulation this is nice amp and it's great sounds.

Happy NAD!  Independent controls for each line too.  Nice!    I don't know much about tubes or non-tubes, but if tubes were your plan then sounds like a helluva deal!

You're not alone MKM in the discussion about Tube Amps VS Solid State. I didn't really understand it either, but my ears told me that a tube amp just sounded better. Apparently, there's some solid science as to why, and here's how I understand it.

Sound comes through an amp's circuitry / speakers as a wave. When the maximum power level of the amplifier is approached, it starts to chop the peaks off those waves which comes out as distortion. This effect is commonly called "clipping" by the technical folks. The chart below shows a visual comparison, with the solid state amp on the left, and the tube amp on the right. In a solid state (a.k.a. transistor) amp, the clipping is sudden, so the distortion comes out very harsh sounding. In a tube (a.k.a. valve) amp, the clipping is more rounded, so it sounds more natural and pleasant to the ears.

Even when the amp is not being over-driven, the clean sound coming through a tube amp has what's often described as a "warmer tone", with more dimension and harmonic range that sounds more natural to the ear. The downside is that tube amps are usually a lot more expensive than solid state amps, but a lot less power is needed to achieve a good volume level. A 15-watt tube amp will usually generate as much volume as a 75-watt solid state amp (varies by brand somewhat). Tube amps also tend to have more "personality" by brand or type of tubes being used, with each one having a different voice and characteristics that appeal to different guitarists and styles of music.

That's my "layman's amp primer" MKM, and I hope it's a bit helpful.

You know, Russell, theft and vandalism are two of the most demeaning crimes that people debase themselves and their fellow men with. And it really sickens most people like myself when they hear about it, or find out about it, happening to someone who spends the better of their personal time helping others in some friendly social assistance. The kicker in this case is that involved a portion of the subject in which that good person is involved with. I wish there was something we could do to make things better for you and ease not only the material loss you have succumbed to, but also the emotional disappointment you must feel about people in general. Try to remember, in the latter case, that "MOST" people are not like those who belittled you nature. I'm sorry for your loss.
KevinRK

This is an AMAZINGLY EASY to understand example! Thank you so much!  I don't feel like such a moron about the differences now. 

As light also travels in waves, high levels of white and black in a digital photo is also known as clipping.  So, this description particularly makes a lot of sense to me having been dabbling with photography lately. My weirdly wired brain just made a bit of a connection to a few other things as well.  Sometimes in photography we WANT some clipping.  When it comes to the purposely used distortion effects with amplifiers and pedals, I guess it's comparable.  Humph, who'd have thought?  I still prefer the acoustic sound more than any amplified sound possible.  I also generally prefer my photography to be representative of what my eye sees, and not heavily altered... but sometimes my brain jumps in and says... NO!  I did NOT see all those little imperfections with my naked eye, let me just soften this up a bit.   Different brands of tubes could be compared to different camera filters. 

MKM ... you're most welcome!

You hit the nail on the head by assessing photography with the eye, because that's exactly how I was assessing the sound of various amps, i.e., with my ears. They told me that the tube amps sounded a lot better than the solid state ones, so naturally I had to ask why. A guy at the local music store (Long & McQuade's) explained it with a couple of line drawings on a sheet of paper, and somehow it got through my thick skull and made sense. It's interesting that sound waves and light waves behave with such similarity.

I also prefer the gentleness and realism of acoustic over electric, but there are those times when a person just needs to let the hair down and cut loose ... very therapeutic!