high power tube amps vs ss

Harking back to Mapman quoting Einstein... the only way to really get a handle on this is to get yourself to a show or an audio club and listen. See what floats your boat. Right now I am listening to an 18 wpc SET amp driving 97 dB high impedance speakers in a 14 x 23 x 8' room. I have to use 10 db attenuators to get the volume control up to 10:30 and it's about as loud as I ever want it. Plenty of bass. Vocals/midrange sound RIGHT. Source is 16/44.1 Pandora, so it's not the ultimate in detail, but it sounds pretty darn good to me. Go to RMAF and hear Ralph's 60 watt OTLs, driving the Audio Classic horns to near rock concert levels in one of the very big exhibition (not sleeping) rooms will show you that you do not need a mammoth amp (ss or tube)to provide mammoth sound w minimal distortion. OK, the cost is a little heat. Maybe you live in Phoenix and that is a game changer for you. That's cool (pun intended). Give a Berning ZOTL amp a try. Long tube life, auto-bias, compact, pretty cool running- certainly cooler than many ss amps biased into class A.

Minor1 said:

I know good design and engineering when I hear it or see it.

Not to be contrary, but unless I miss my guess, neither you nor anyone else has ever "heard" a "design". You may have heard a system based on a component whose designer made trade-offs and design decisions that ultimately yielded a sound that conformed to your aesthetic. Now when you say:

What would be better is to have forums where solid state amp designers and tube amp designers sit and answer questions and discuss these issues. Then, you will have a more fair discussion and I guarantee that you will have better insite [sic] and information.

I say, right on bro!!!