Tube or Solid state ?

[295 antenna]

Well its opinion time again. What is better to run with a tube radio ? A tube linear or a solid state. Or is it just your personal preference ?

[MDYoungblood]

"Tube" radio into a "Tube" amp is the only way to go, nothing like the glow of a set of 572B tubes through a grid case, unless maybe it's a 3cx1500A7.

3's

Greg

[jon6667]

tubes sound better than transistors.

[295 antenna]

I have heard the same about sound also but with today's new radios i dont believe that is true, I do believe tubes are more forgiving in regards to driving them hard .I do like the old time sound of tube radio though. Kind of like MP3 and Vinyl

[jessejamesdallas]

I run tube amps with my cobra 2000 and get nothing but good reports...even on SSB...I have a 1x3 Kicker 500 (which is the same as the old Firebird 500, just different paint job on it) and a Palomar 300A 2x4...nothing special with either, but good reports.

I run a XForce 1x4 base amp with my 2980wx, and it's fine on AM, but not so much on SSB, so if I'm going to get on SSB, i warm up the cobra and the glass.

[KP68]

A misalingned radio into any type amp will sound awful, so it all starts with a radio that’s tuned and set up correctly. A properly designed transistor amp run within specs will sound great and same with tube type. Sticking with properly designed; at higher output levels for me tube type is the way to go. I see the prices of some large mobile class C amps getting real close to the price of a nice 3CX3000A7, which is a phenomenal amp! And lastly and this will show my age, I’ve always been fascinated with tubes!

[De_Wildfire]

I like my tube amp. I get superb audio reports and it's very clean. Also, it's very forgiving and seriously, mistakes do happen especially when running a special even station with all the pileups and changing bands like a jack rabbit. I know real fast when this amp is accidentally over driven because the grid protection circuit will cut off the transmit. Make sure this is installed! Being on wrong antennas is another story too. 80 percent of the time I run 100w without the amp but there are times when I need to use it and I will by accident forget to cut the radio back to 50w because, " I'm in a hurry" to work as many stations before the upper bands go dead. All an amp really does is buy you a little time before mother nature has her way. There's a lot going on when operating a tube amp vs solid state. Also tubes are very expensive and the amplifier has a lot of weight which means more $$$$ to ship out and get it fixed unless you know someone local or fix it yourself. I am an old school tube amp person. Been very happy with the amp.