Classics never go out of style.

There will always be manufacturers who want to build single-ended-triode amplifiers, just as there will always be people who want to perform Shakespeare or distill absinthe.

Tubes!

Tied!

Oh wait, what were we talking about?

Tubes.

Tied!

Pretty fuckin cool. But I no longer agree. Solid state audio has progressed to the point were tubes are no longer viable except in very high power rf devices.

So you're trying to say oil mixes will eventually get so good that there will be nobody left distilling absinthe? That rap will make Shakespeare superfluous, if it hasn't already?
You might be right, Just Stab Bob, but I don't think I want to live in a world without tube amps.

Do you have one?
They are nice but high maintenance, you have to warm them up for a day or two before they will perform well and they have to be adjusted constantly, they are always changing as the tubes age.
if you like to fiddle they kick ass.
I've been using late '70s early '80s Hafler equipment, that stuff will startle you sometimes. Hafler was the man when I was a kid, top quality, hand made, bullet proof, in a somewhat affordable price range, now you can pick his stuff up on eBay cheap. The amps put out a lot of heat though.

I grew up on tubes and used to know the equations for designing with them. I've built my share of amps long ago.

The argument that tubes clipped in a softer (even harmonics) manner than transistors (odd harmonics) was always a moot argument in my mind because I always felt the amplifier should be sized to accomidate the speakers and should not be driven to clipping at normal listening levels.

Requiring massive amplifiers to drive low efficency speakers is a poor design trade off when high efficency speaker designs (folded exponential horns) are available. I've seen Klipsch K-Horns driven with 3W tube amps and they sounded tight. No reason a 32W solid state amp would not be sufficient to prevent clipping (unless you are intent on going beyond the 'threshold of pain' at 115dB).

Tubes are neat. I'd love to have two channels with sets of 6L6s in push-pull class a-b driving my stereo. With feedback windings off the output transformer there is no reason not to get the crossover distortion level down to near the same distortion level as a class A amp. If you are going to the trouble of designing with tubes go all out.

You wana sell it to me for under $200 I'll be glad to listen to the sales pitch. Beyond that I'm not impressed with tubes any more.

I have enough hearing damage that it doesn't matter anymore. I have solid state Mcintosh stereo components and they sound as good as their older tube stuff to me. For a guitar amp you've got to go tube though.

For my tinnitus,
it's all shimmery.

I understand the tube amp for guitar thing.

It is part of the sound (what some people describe as 'warmth') and that would be different with a solid state amp.