Ampsandsound

ampsandsound is a small family business in Southern California born from a love for the legendary vacuum tube amplifiers of midcentury America. Many enthusiasts have been captivated by these masterpieces of circuit design, and we are proud to count ourselves among them. Like mechanical watches, fountain pens or real leather soles, tube amplifiers have that indescribable quality which fascinates us even decades after their invention. At ampsandsound we believe the human element and handwork that goes into making great tube amplifiers gives them some life of their own. As American audio moved from the musicality of vacuum tubes to the power of transistors, tubes increasingly became a relic, a curiosity of a bygone era. In Japan however, the great circuits of the early American audio were not forgotten. Much as the Westerns of the John Wayne era inspired Kurosawa, so too did the American circuits find a home in the hands of Japanese masters determined to mine their secrets and elevate them from DIY kits or mass-produced commodities to handmade masterpieces. Fast forward to the twenty-first century, and we have made it our mission to study these classic circuits, and their prodigal Japanese godchildren. ampsandsound emerged from our desire to stay true to the potential of these circuits, while adopting the Japanese ethos of perfection in parts quality and execution. In short, we are inspired by the work of our fellow tube and iron enthusiasts, past and present and humbly offer our own take. Everything inside an ampsandsound amplifier is intentional, and we only make alterations to circuits where there are clear improvements and benefits to be made. Where some designers attempt maximum simplicity or clever circuit tricks, we aim only for the most distilled and audibly musical experience possible. “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler” to paraphrase Albert Einstein. We design for quality above all else.