high power tube amps vs ss

Me too regarding Nelson Pass designs. One of the few SS designs that to my ears really get closer to making music sound real other than , to my ears, a tube solution (preferably of the OTL variety) ideally matched with the speaker. It always comes down to synergy when making choices and this is not so easy. There are many speakers with difficult load characteristics that are superb that will not electrically match with tube amplification. There is no simple answer to this complex paradigm. Melding components together in a manner that makes recorded music sound real is not easily achieved by Tube vs. SS discussion, too many factors involved in the equation that is evidenced by the same questions continually being asked, IMHO.

I really appreciate the contributions of Almarg and Atmasphere (Ralph) to my better understanding of these issues.

Csontos I would venture that the Atma-sphere amps, which I have heard in several unfamiliar systems over the years and in my experience the Berning zh series amps are as fast and transparent as any ss amps I am familiar with. Check out Berning's website for the numerous reviews of these amps to get an idea of their performance characteristics.

I have owned and been listening to the Berning zh270 for 11 years and the comments you have made above regarding tube amps in general are true in many instances but certainly not all. This amplifier rivals any ss amp I've listened to with reference to transient attack, pitch definition and bass control.

Well Wolf, "speed" is another of those audio terms that is hard to define other than to say you certainly recognize it when you hear it. Much of it to my ears is MOST readily recognized in large scale acoustic and choral music with wide and varying dynamic shadings and tones. A "fast" amp seemingly resolves the leading edges of instruments without softening or rounding off, an effect I hear primarily with OTL tube amps, a greater transparency and resolution of all the musical information on the recording. The ability to resolve dynamic shadings without the sound congealing or dynamics compressing. Now as noted by Charles1dad there are amps that are considered "fast" in this manner but miss the subleties of tone and true and accurate pitch of instruments which can, to my ears, lead to fatigue. When the pitch of instruments sounds natural and more like what you hear live and the subtle dynamic shadings and sense of space is preserved, it just sounds more real.

A good test is listening to large scale music at lower volumes and hearing all the information, including bass, preserved as it is at higher volumes. This is definitely an area where "fast" OTL tube amps excel over most if not all transformer coupled tube amps and SS.

Wolf, I love you man! You always make me smile with your posts.