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Comebacks by musical legends are almost always a letdown, but there's one '60s icon that's performing, and looking, even better today than it did 40 years ago: the tube amplifier. Although almost made extinct in the 1970s by cheaper transistor-based amps, vacuum tubes (also known as valves) are back in the mix for a growing number of high-end audio companies. This isn't just sonic nostalgia: audiophiles have long claimed that tubes pump out warmer, smoother sounds — a result of the low-level distortion that tubes generate — than transistors. If your music goes down these tubes, it's guaranteed to amplify your listening pleasure.

Cocoon 4
Roth Audio's Music Cocoon 4 ($800) is a powered-up iPod dock that adds depth to digital recordings. But steer clear of audio files that have been highly compressed; even the best tubes can't recover all the sonic details lost in that process. www.rothaudio.co.uk

Sinfonia
With an octet of gently glowing valves and a varnished-wood finish, Union Research's Sinfonia ($4,600) looks more like a piece of designer furniture than an amp. What it has in style, it matches in audio quality. This 30-watt-per-channel amp will smooth over the rough edges of any sounds you feed it. www.ukd.co.uk

iTube Valve Dock
Housed in an industrial, black chassis, the Fatman iTube Valve Dock Carbon Edition ($1,000) will give the sound of your MP3 player a corpulence you never thought possible. The iTube features extra audio jacks for your CD player and comes with a pair of black bookshelf speakers. www.fat-man.co.uk

Cinema-X
With five 110-watt or two 450-watt audio channels, Pathos Acoustics' Cinema-X ($9,500) can coax a superior blast from your stereo. Hooked to your home cinema, it will transport you to distant locales — if you can take your eyes off the six tubes' hypnotic glow. www.ukd.co.uk

• THEUNIS BATES
• Reinvented tube amps give your audio equipment the fuller, smoother sounds of the past