A tube amplifier or tube amplifier is an amplifier that uses vacuum tubes in order to increase the amplitude or power of an audio signal. It is thought by many (us included!) that the sound produced by these amplifiers is warmer and more natural than that produced by more modern amplifiers which use transistors to amplify audio signals.

Tube amplifiers are mainly used these days for sound reproduction at home and in studios and also in the amplification of electric guitars. The goal of any music system should be to reproduce the recorded music as faithfully as possible. For audiophiles and those interested in high fidelity music systems, a tube amplifier is seen as the best way to recreate music as it is meant to be heard, with minimum distortion and little of the ‘hiss’ that transistor based amplifiers can sometimes introduce.

A tube amplifier aficionado will tell you that the sound produced by a tube amp emphasises both the reverb and the timbre of the instruments being reproduced. Indeed the difference between the two forms of amplification can be so distinctive that when you hear someone refer to the ‘tube sound’ they are referring to sound produced by a tube amplifier.

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