FET model of 18 watt. Heresy or not?

[LeeM]

Now this is what I call an entertaining thread! Much more so than the typical "which speaker do you like" or "which caps sound best."

To bnwitt and others, sorry if you misinterpreted my post. I used the term "tubenut" as a term of affection, not pejoratively. I was certainly not disputing your ability to distinguish between one amp and another or to hear things that some us can't hear. This whole tone debate always fascinates me, perhaps because I don't hear the subtleties (especially coming out of 2" computer speakers on MP3s at 64 kbps) that so many others seem to hear. Or maybe I'm just the only one who will admit that I can't hear them

I do contend that there are psycho-acoustic factors involved when one who is predisposed to prefer a certain type of sound hears a sound, knowing it comes from a source one typically does not like. I also contend that in a band context, very few listeners will pick up the tonal nuances that may be readily apparent in a sound sample recorded without accompaniment. And let's not forget the "tone is in the fingers" part of the equation also. I'm sure a good player could extract exquisite sounds from just about any setup whereas a mediocre player like me would be hard pressed to get a great sound out of anything.

Anyhoo, thanks to another Lee for starting this thread and to Gary for his experiments.

[Plexi]

"""I don't hear the subtleties (especially coming out of 2" computer speakers on MP3s at 64 kbps) that so many others seem to hear. """

Well the 64kbs might be a challange..lol but most of us have our PCs wired for sound. And listen with headphones or something good.
I don't see how anyone with PC speakers could tell much of a difference.

You are very correct in your post, some people never hear what some of us might pick up. I don't know if we have just trained our ears to pick it up or what. Where as you said,some people may not care, or could even pick up a guitar out of tune etc.. I know alot of us are older,and our hearing has to be alot less than what it used to be. I do alot of loud testing when working on amps. There are some cool things you can do with pedals,and some may seem weird. Billy Gibbons used some radio shack thing for a boost. yes it was very interesting..

Richie