Is it realistic to have a tube amp at home?

[Orvillain]

Idk

Right. So if you don't know, don't worry about it.

You can set a valve amp to the same volume that any other amplification can be set to; assuming you buy the right amp.

 

[6CA7-A]

https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-25-2016/UNx7v_.gif

 

[JiveTurkey]

That'll wake the baby. Certainly

 

[Orvillain]

hahaha! I think we need to go and make a big boy thread somewhere else! But yes... love it!

 

[laxu]

The thing is....

If you can play a modeller at home, or a solid state amp at home, and get some level from it from a speaker.... then you can do the same thing with a modern valve amp. Just pick the right one.

Sure, but then it comes down to whether you are happy with that sound. I find that the lower the volume goes, the less the tube amp tends to impress, even if run through say a Fryette PS. Volume itself is always a big part of the experience, and I don't mean you need to rattle windows.

I once tested this out for myself to see if the Bogner Goldfinger 45 SL (very good MV) on its own, and through a Fryette PS-2 vs Helix Floor through the PS-2 would be better when turned down to really low volumes into real cabs. They were pretty much on par. So what's the point of the way more expensive tube rig if you need to be down that low?

I've done a similar test but with a Victory VC35 into the Fryette load, into Helix Native cab sims vs Helix Native on its own, played through headphones and studio monitors. Again it ended up being pretty much the same compared to Helix Vox AC30 and Matchless models.

If you can't do it for a valve amp, but you can do it for a modeller or a solid state amp, then you're really doing something wrong.

If you're headphones-bound, there are ways to get your valve amp plugged into a loadbox and to then feed your headphones with an IR applied to it.

Today, there are no barriers to using a valve amp at home, that don't also applied to the other bits of kit.

Which again goes back to how much that will cost you, and if the end result is any better than just using a good modeler into headphones, with everything else they can do. Even tube amps with built-in IRs and headphone outputs tend to lack e.g room reverb capabilities.

Once the IRs and headphones come in, I just don't care if it's a tube amp or a digital model of one.
It's missing the thing that makes the tube amp fun: real cabs and some volume.

 

[Whizzinby]

 

[Orvillain]

Sure, but then it comes down to whether you are happy with that sound. I find that the lower the volume goes, the less the tube amp tends to impress, even if run through say a Fryette PS. Volume itself is always a big part of the experience, and I don't mean you need to rattle windows.

That is no different to any other kind of amplification setup. The lower the volume goes, the less impressive or enjoyable something is. This is a pretty basic guitar 101 observation. Everyone knows this. It is why at a certain point, it is BETTER to use headphones.

Which again goes back to how much that will cost you, and if the end result is any better than just using a good modeler into headphones, with everything else they can do. Even tube amps with built-in IRs and headphone outputs tend to lack e.g room reverb capabilities.

I'm just saying, compare like-for-like.

Quiet valve amp versus modeller and headphones is not the same thing. Valve amp with a load and then headphones attached is the valve amp equivalent of a modeller and headphones. Modeller plugged into a poweramp of any kind and set quiet is a more appropriate comparison to a standalone quiet valve amp.

Bringing other functionality into - particularly stuff that the OP is not asking for - is just not fair, IMHO.

The full swing-and-a-hit story of it is this; for the OP's question... if you can do it with your current THR setup, then you can do it with a valve amp. Go get a small Orange Terror combo and knock yourself out. Or try a Blackstar HT-5. Those are surprisingly good all things considered, and they are a SS preamp into a 6V6 power section, iirc.

 

[Orvillain]

Ultimately the issue here isn't the gear. It is the ears. Ears require a certain amount of signal to hit them in the right way, in order to get the tone you want.

 

[FuzzyAce]

We're talking a living room amp here? Just pick something... anything!

 

[Orvillain]

@DrewJD82 at this point, the edgelord label has lost its lustre!! I'm not an edgelord! I'm a bloody audio professional with a sense of humour!!!

 

[Warmart]

@DrewJD82 at this point, the edgelord label has lost its lustre!! I'm not an edgelord! I'm a bloody audio professional with a sense of humour!!!

Don't forget your vocabulary! Perhaps not a Winston Churchill of the modern day, but close enough for us!

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

That all depends of what the definition of "is" is...

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Ultimately the issue here isn't the gear. It is the ears. Ears require a certain amount of signal to hit them in the right way, in order to get the tone you want.

But if you're just noodling on the couch over some TV are you really that insistent over tone?

As long as it doesn't completely suck for you, I'd say good enough is good enough especially for the situation.

 

[6CA7-A]

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

 

[Orvillain]

But if you're just noodling on the couch over some TV are you really that insistent over tone?

As long as it doesn't completely suck for you, I'd say good enough is good enough especially for the situation.

Hey, I agree. It is the OP who doesn't agree.

Or at least is pretending not to. Else why ask the question?

Fuck... if I'm just twatting around with some 12 bar blues in the living room while the kids eat their dinner, I'd do that on an acoustic personally.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Fuck... if I'm just twatting around with some 12 bar blues in the living room while the kids eat their dinner, I'd do that on an acoustic personally.

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[mercifulfuzziness]

Right. So if you don't know, don't worry about it.

You can set a valve amp to the same volume that any other amplification can be set to; assuming you buy the right amp.

This is getting confusing

We're talking a living room amp here? Just pick something... anything!

Haha is that also what you do with your television?

 

[laxu]

That is no different to any other kind of amplification setup. The lower the volume goes, the less impressive or enjoyable something is. This is a pretty basic guitar 101 observation. Everyone knows this. It is why at a certain point, it is BETTER to use headphones.

This I can agree with.

I'm just saying, compare like-for-like.

Quiet valve amp versus modeller and headphones is not the same thing. Valve amp with a load and then headphones attached is the valve amp equivalent of a modeller and headphones. Modeller plugged into a poweramp of any kind and set quiet is a more appropriate comparison to a standalone quiet valve amp.

That's what I described doing in my previous post - both ways: tube amp vs modeler into a poweramp and real cab, set to low volume. Tube amp into a loadbox, cab sims and studio monitors/headphones vs modeler in the same scenario.

Bringing other functionality into - particularly stuff that the OP is not asking for - is just not fair, IMHO.

I think it's absolutely fair. Those additional features, like a whole suite of fx, can be the things that make the modeler more fun and practical, when played at those low volumes.

The full swing-and-a-hit story of it is this; for the OP's question... if you can do it with your current THR setup, then you can do it with a valve amp. Go get a small Orange Terror combo and knock yourself out. Or try a Blackstar HT-5. Those are surprisingly good all things considered, and they are a SS preamp into a 6V6 power section, iirc.

They can, but will they find that extra money spent worth it, at what to me sounds like very low volumes? They aren't going to get any of the good stuff going down that low. Maybe they will like the tone more, maybe they won't, but it certainly won't represent that tube amp at its best.

I think the Yamaha THR OP has is already spot on for what they need. Sounds good at low volumes, has pretty good amp simulation, some straightforward fx, headphones option when needed, simple to use, takes little space and doesn't look too odd in a living room.

They might want to add a tube combo to play when the family is out, or cram into a basement where they can turn it up a bit.