can a tube-o-phile be happy with ss?


I switched to tubes over a decade ago, after realizing that I no longer listened to the stereo because it did not sound like real music and ss and digital were irritating, on a subconscious level. Went to all tubes and mostly LP's. It worked. I even prefer triode with no negative feedback settings, usually. Now ss has supposedly improved, and its advantages beckon, e.g., less heat, electricity and trouble, better bass and perhaps more detail and clarity. Have any of you voluntarily gone back to the dark side and been content? (with the understanding that it never really ends, for an audiophile). On an unlimited budget one might have few complaints, but this question is necessarily in the context of a semblance of fiscal sanity, not top of the line Boulder, Ayre or Zanden.
lloydc

Showing 1 response by celtic66

Just purchased Sugden A21SE integrated. Have owned VTL Tiny Triodes monoblocks and custom built tube preamp. Must say that Sugden is damn nice and gets most things right. The Class A amplification is lightening quick.

Vocals and acoustic piano are very nice. As sweet as tubes? Probably not, yet very tolerable and without the hassle of biasing, cost of tube rolling and all the things that come with tubes.

I'm running Coincident UHS TRS Triumph monitors with LAT International speaker cable.