Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

[MetalManiac]

[IM4Tone]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

'Cause solid state is less expensive, lighter, less maintenance, and more reliable. Unlike with tube guitar amps, the objective of a PA is to amplify the sound only, not color it (effects aside).

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Perfectly said.

[MetalManiac]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

^ Of course this logic would hold true for modern music, however don't you think part of the sound we love from vintage pre-solid state vocals was due to the richness and diensionality of the Tube PA? I am actually considering restoring an old tube PA I have for use to try and grab some of the sweetness of a Billy Holiday vocal tone for instance...maybe put a solid state rectifier in to tighten up the dynamics some.

[Chickenwings]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

weight and cost.

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Many modern PA amps have outputs of thousands of watts which is far easier and cheaper to achieve with SS components than valves.
To get such outputs from valves, transmitting valves are used.
-EG: - http://www.chambonino.com/construct/const9.html -

[Mincer]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

I would hate to carry a tube PA around. Also, tubes change the sound. They are supposed to. SS technology reproduces the sound better with less coloration. You don't want the coloration a tube amp puts on a guitar to happen on the whole mix of the band.

[ehdwuld]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

The modern mic preamps color your sound nicely enough
Behringer and Mackie brag on these preamps that provide the tubeishness of which you speak

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Some people spend big bucks on tube hi-fi. If you have heard a great vocalist or horn player through a tube hi-fi amp, one can understand why. It's totally clean but much more expressive and three dimensional.

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

^ Of course this logic would hold true for modern music, however don't you think part of the sound we love from vintage pre-solid state vocals was due to the richness and diensionality of the Tube PA? I am actually considering restoring an old tube PA I have for use to try and grab some of the sweetness of a Billy Holiday vocal tone for instance...maybe put a solid state rectifier in to tighten up the dynamics some.

I'm not sure, if I've seen a band with a tube PA it could only have been once or twice.

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Many of the old valve (tube) PAs with their column speakers used to get used as guitar amps way back in the day, and they almost always sounded great for that purpose.

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Ever seen a 500 watt tube amp? Oh they exist, you just don't want to buy it, carry it or maintain it.

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

Ever seen a 500 watt tube amp? Oh they exist, you just don't want to buy it, carry it or maintain it.

[Surgeon]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

I would hate to carry a tube PA around. Also, tubes change the sound. They are supposed to. SS technology reproduces the sound better with less coloration. You don't want the coloration a tube amp puts on a guitar to happen on the whole mix of the band.

Well, they do but they're not *supposed* to. It's called a shortcoming. The fact that we have come to expect them to color the tone and love it doesn't mean they were designed to color the tone. Back then that's the best they had to achieve amplification.

I know you're extremely knowledgeable about all this by the way. I'm not trying to correct you. Just adding a bit to what you said.

[PFDarkside]

Re: Why don't they make Tube PA's anymore?

It's very interesting to look at Fender amp designs through the years and see how they got cleaner and cleaner as they got more and more powerful and more efficient. It's also interesting how different players have preferences for the different eras... Early or late Tweed, Brownface, Blackface, early or late silverface, Rivera era...