Valve Amp

Valve amplifiers (amp) are appliances that are used for amplifying the power of any electrical signal. Generally, they are used to electrically amplify sound or radio frequency signals. Valve amplifiers are also known as tube amplifiers. Valve amplifiers were first used to regenerate long distance telephonic signals. In the early thirties, these were used for wireless markets. Valve amps were also built for musical instruments and televisions.

Valve amps are rarely used these days, restricting their use to a few applications. They are used as guitar amplifiers, as audiophile music amplifiers, and for high power radio transmitters. Valve amplifiers tend to reduce the hoarse sound in a hi-fi system. Musicians or guitarists use guitar amplifiers while they are performing. The guitar valve amplifiers have a limited bandwidth and the overdriven sounds are smooth and distortion-free. These valve amps feature smooth transition into clipping and have an extremely high dynamic range. Certain models of guitar valve amps can produce reliable standard recognised sounds. However, valve amplifiers are heavy and tend to make a lot of noise. They are expensive and difficult to maintain.

One can buy guitar valve amplifiers from certain musical stores. Musicians can buy valve amplifier kits too. Croft Series 5 valve power amp is one of the popular amplifiers available in the market.