After having built and tweaked to death a number of amps here's my $2.00 from most to least important assuming that the amp is being played by a good player:
Originally posted by Heiko
1. Speakers and cabinet
2. Bias type (fixed or cathode) and feedback loop (or lack thereof)
3. Voltages
4. Output transformer (contributes much less than people think despite all the hyperbole and misinformation on this subject out there)
5. Component types and manufacturers (carbon comp resistors, PIO caps, exotic parts, etc. (these barely do anything in guitar amps except raise the bill of materials through the roof!)
I'd expect the tone difference to be greater in a separate speaker cab than in a combo.Originally posted by mbratch
Regarding #1, I have an inexpensive (~$1000 retail) tube amp that probably has a particle board cabinet. If make a new cabinet for it in solid pine or other wood, will that improve the tone noticeably? Or do you mean more along the lines of cabinet dimensions? Or both?
IMHO, this is kind of like asking whether white wine is better tasting than red.Originally posted by mbratch
Regarding #2, which one is better in tone, fixed or cathode bias?
Originally posted by dbeeman
What is the most crucial component for good tone?
(Assuming a good design)
Tubes?
Output transformer?
Tone caps?
coupling caps?
resistors?
speakers?
cabinets?
other?