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 2 responses by rleff

If you think you can't maybe trying a moscode 401hr,402au or similiar amp will get you the best of both worlds.
Moscode also has a in home 30 day free trial and tube rolling won't break the bank.
This is a response from atmasphere answering the question;
Which is the most tubelike solid state amp around?
"The most 'tube like' (meaning to me: musical without artifact, detailed, I can listen to it all day and not think about the sound of the amp, just listening to the music) transistor amp is the Ridley Audio amplifier. No other transistor amp is even close; it is better than many tube amps I've heard. It also costs about $100K and employs a heater circuit to heat the output section- it runs as hot as any triode class A tube amp of the same power"
So if Ralph can like a solid state amp then there is hope.
Personally I probally will change back someday.