My take is different, there is good sound and bad sound. 20 to 30 years ago solid state amps were appalling, and the only solution was to go tube, which is what I did. Nowadays solid state amps are "ube" good, and so I have given up the tube thing.
I would say don't get hung up on the technology, listen and whether it is class A, A/B, D, and the rest of the alphabet, or tube go for the best sound.
The fundamental difference is something to do with distortion and clipping, tubes do it in a nicer way than transistors (even order harmonics). There is a hassle value with tubes, warming up, current draw and heat...and the tubes are constantly wearing out! What always amazes me is people buy exorbitantly priced tube gear, and the first thing they do is roll the tubes:)...like the designer got it wrong>
OK OK I also rolled tubes, it was fun:)
Bottom line is there are good and bad implementations of both SS and tube amps, so one is not necessarily better than the other. Historically there was a time when tubes in general knocked the socks off solid state. |
I do not have personal experience with tubes in my own system so my comparison is my long experience with SS versus George Merrill's set up in Memphis. It was not a top of the line Tube system but it was the most musical set up I had ever heard. Pls note , a system IMHO is more than a single component and his components were well matched. It was like live music in a well design music amphitheater. I have put together a pass labs SS class a system with a RCM Sensor 2 phono that is very similar to the sound I heard at George's place. I find the pass SS sound in my system is fast, accurate explosive, but can take on the delicacy of a musical piece like Ravel's Bolero.
I am not trying to hype or review pass labs but rather say SS on Tube systems can sound similar and great. I think it's the art of matching components as much as it's the genealogy of SS vs Tube |
I prefer Pass labs over all other solid state. Also over tube sound. Because it has a very musical mid, but a superior timing and speed compared to tubes. Beside this you get a more dynamic sound with more layers. This is price less. When you want a more tube sound, you can add a tube pre amp. Even listening to the best tube pre amp abd power I can audition limitations. As you know I hate every single limitation. In my world there is no room for limitations. |
When tubes make things sound unreal it may sound pleasant. With ss you recognize the unreal immediately as distortion. |
i have heard from quite a few that tubes make the experience of music unreal more then that from solid state |
For me once I heard the MFA d75 I was hooked on the tube sound and dove in deep; but I still do switch to solid state just for a change now and then.
Driving Nola KO's with audiovalve challenger 180 monoblocks for tube and Jeff Roland Model 6 Monoblocks for solid state; each has its own sound which I enjoy; probally the tube sound for me is a little more enjoyable but it also is seems to be determined by what type of music is also being listened to.
Go hear for yourself and then you will know. |
drop a tube amp, it sounds like breaking glass. SS, not so much. SS amps rarely noisy explosion sounds, but tube amps have that capability. |
Solid State Sound is like having a shower with thousands of tiny ice cubes, Tube Sound is having the shower with water. |
I like both, so I use both within my system, the combo sound's great, tube's on source, and solid state amp direct!, getting ready to roll tube's very soon, mullard 12ax7 10M nos, Mullard 12au7 10M nos, and of course changing the 6z4 recetifier to Mullard nos, might need an adapter for that, the fricken tube socket on my player goes to differnt part's of the tube, wich I got sidewinded by the chinesse on that, no fear!, I will getter done!, Nos on everything! |
ube is the new technology for tubes..lol |
One sounds like the Beatles 'I love you ya ya ya' the other one sounds like 'I wanna hold your ha a a hand'. Only your sound receptors can tell. |
Ebm
"Ube is a very cool sound"
ROFL |
Jmcgrogan... I like the digital/analog reference |
Tube, better midrange, Solid State, better bass. Ube falls somewhere in between. |
ube sound like this: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
whereas solid state sounds like this: ``````````````````````````
I don't think you will get a better explanation than that.
Cheers,
John |
I feel that you can get a nice sounding, powerful solid state amp in the $1,000-$1,200 range (used) where you would have to spend double that to get an equally well built tube amp.
I really enjoyed my Classe CA-200, and I also like the Parasound Halo A21, McCormacks and Conrad Johnson amps.
My Primaluna Prologue 3 was nice but felt more like an entry level tube amplifier and not as highup the chain as my Classe CA-200. The Primaluna also ran out of steam at about 80% of the volume I wanted. It also couldn't control the bass like a hefty solid state amp.
Tube amps can require more maintenance and swapping tubes can get expensive. My Primaluna popped and blew smoke one day while just being turned on.
Also, I like to leave my equipment on 24/7 so I don't have to wait 10-20 minutes for itto warm up and sound its best; you can't leave a tube amp on constantly.
Many people say solid state amp, tube pre amp is the way to go but I have never tried this set up.
Tubes look sexy though, and they can impart a certain richness and texture to the music which can make it sound a bit more organic, but at the same time, a good solid state amp can sound rich and full bodied also. |
One of them is better and the other one is not as good.
Which is which is a matter of personal preference and eternal debate |
LED tv's is for dummies. Not even for free I want a LED tv. Led
is an inferior level of tv's. Oled is superior, but only for
commercial reasons they will sell led for a few years more. This
has only to do with costs. For example in the shootout december
2013 of all best flatpannels in the world the best Led had only
a 6.9. You must be a mongol to buy a led tv.
Tubes are still hot, and they will have an important part in the
world of highend for a long time to come.
Audio is all about personal taste. Be happy that we can choose.
They biggest limitation in audio is that the % of stunning level
in quality is very small. It is my personal opinion that over
90% of all tools in audio is not worth it's money! |
Minori,
That was a nice and well reasoned post. |
In guitar applications tubes are still definite choice over solid state. Clean, natural, smooth and powerful distortion is only typical to the tube guitar amps while solid state guitar amps (such as Line-6) are using effects to simulate tubes with substantially more harshness and less smooth and less transparent.
In home audio applications tubes are used mostly to impress an eye of the consumer while solid states are nowdays no compromise at all. |
A lot depends on the designer and what "sound" he/she is reaching for. The range on sound differences are many. It can go from very harsh and bright for some solid state to very soft and mushy and distorted for tube. But, I have found that well designed tube equipment is both realistic and accurate and the same is true for well designed solid state designs.
It also depends on what speakers you are driving.
The real test is you. What type of music do you appreciate? Are you familiar with how instruments are "suppose" to sound? Are you familiar with sound space, dimensionality?,etc. How loud you play your music matters also.
You are going to hear/read from many about harmonic distortion and how it is different in tubes vs solid state equipment. That is well and good. However, There are some pretty good solid state designers out there, just as there are some good tube designers.
To debate and discuss tube sound vs solid state sound, one first must test both on an apples to apples scale. Pick a price point, select equipment well designed within that price point and go at it. just like cars, most electronic equipment is designed within price points that have compromises to stay within that price range. So it will be very close to apples to apples in the comparison.
You can't A/B an Audio Research REF 2509 amp vs a lower end or mid fi Yamaha solid state amp and consider that a fair comparison.
If you are talking about high end, then you will then see that the equipment is pretty darn close with subtle differences. And now!!!! is when we can have a fair discussion about the differences. Until I hear a person's reference point about comparisons, the discussion is lost on me.
Tube sound is warmer and more detailed? In reference to what???
I can tell you that I really like the Audio Research REF 250 amps. They are clean, smooth, accurate and realistic to my ears. The best I've hear so far. I've heard the top of the line Boulder amps and wow! they are nice. I still prefer the AR amps. But it may not be solid state vs tube here, but just AR vs Boulder.
Remember, every designer is different. I haven't heard the TOL Pass amps, but I bet they are really nice.
So, read/listen to what others say about tube sound vs solid state, but, it all comes down to price point, apples to apples comparison and ultimately, what you prefer.
enjoy |
Ube is a very cool sound. |
Mapman gets it...I think it's an interesting part of hifi dialog that great tube amps are often described as having "SS like grip on the bass," and SS amps will be described as having "tube-like warmth and harmonic content" or some such thing. I personally prefer a tube power amp for the tube specific harmonic content driven tone AND because I like messing with tubes, but the point of all this is great sounding music and luckily you can find it in either design camp. |
Music (tubes) vs Sound (SS).....
Shakey |
Sometimes different, sometimes similar, sometimes hard to tell apart at all.
Like most things, it all depends.
In general, the sound of "good quality" tube gear is more variable than good quality SS. If you like a certain flavor of sound, tube or SS but not both may be the only option. Both are capable of very high levels of technical performance (not to be confused with what a particular individual might deem to "sound good") that tend to sound more similar than different when done right.
Tube rolling with a lot of tube gear provides a unique way to tweak the sound not available with SS gear. |
Come on Beewax. You cannot generalize all solid states, similar to the way you cannot generalize all tubes. But I like your confusing analogy :-) |
Imagine you were dead and they were piping down music from a music server only you thought you were dreaming and the music didn't make any sense since it didn't sound like real music you remembered when you were alive. That's what Solid State Amps sound like. |
Tube is the sound of yesterday just like your old tube TV. and solid state is sound of today just like your new LED TV. |
