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Re:Korg NuTube, vacuum tube for the 21st century by ZoomZoomZoom on Thursday December 20, 2018 @04:12AM (#18723465)
By the way, I totally understand why almost all guitar amps that marketed as hybrid use preamp tube stages and solid-state power amps. However, the reasons are almost all are from the standpoint of engineering, not sound quality.

From my experience, overdriven guitar signal formed by ubiquitous FET-based approach driving a saturated tube power amp can sound gorgeous, tight and punchy, and feel very "natural" and responsive. 12AX7s into your ordinary solid-state power amps - not so much.

Re:Korg NuTube, vacuum tube for the 21st century by jackhack on Thursday December 20, 2018 @10:00AM (#18725412)
A FET preamp feeding a tube power section, pushed into clipping is at the heart of the Dumble tube amps. The Overtone Special (OTS) and Steel String Singer (SSS) are among the most desirable and most expensive guitar amplifiers in the world with models selling for $50,000 to $100,000+
Re:Korg NuTube, vacuum tube for the 21st century by diydsp on Thursday December 20, 2018 @12:58PM (#18727242)
Also the tube pre-amp stage in the Dean Markley RM 80 DR is absolutely gorgeous sounding, as corroborated by its intricate tone-shaping in the schematic. My friend and I use it with keys and synths without even touching the transistor output stage.