Is solid state on the brink of extinction?


I am curious how many out there, like me, that have come to the conclusion the age of solid state, and perhaps tube gear, is closing.

In freeing needed cash from my high end audio recently, I was forced to look for a less expensive alternative. To my surprise, the alternative turned out to be an unexpected bonus.

I have notoriously inefficient speakers. I was sure I would have to sell them once I sold off my large solid state blocks.

Going on a tip from another amp killer speaker owner, I bought an Acoustic Reality eAR 2 MKII Class D amp. This tiny amp caused a revolution in sound benefits over my ss mono blocks.

My speakers gained in speed, depth, control, detail, range, clarity, and dynamics.

It didn't stop there. I also sold my front end, and bought a very cheap programmable digital DVD. It also proved to be better that my old disc player. My playback gained in detail, separation, depth, bass control, bass extension, and treble extension. The mids are just plain natural. Reverberation decay occurs evenly and naturally.

Has anyone else had a similar experience of moving from solid state or tubes to digital? What do you see as the future for solid state component producers? What of tube amps?
muralman1

Showing 1 response by bigkidz

I agree with Tubegroover. I had the Spectron Musician II power amp and it was a very clear sounding amp. Clearer than my Pass Labs X-250 in my system but I did not really connect with the music. In fact my Kinergetics KBA-75 was more musical. The Pass had more texture to the notes and voices than the Digi amp just did not have. Again this was in my system at the time. Also at 500 woc it did not sound any louder than the Pass at 250 wpc. Does this mean the Spectron was bad, no way, maybe with a different source, preamp and speakers it would have made for a fantastic system. I have since upgraded speakers and source and the system synergy changed 100% so I am back at looking differnt componets to reach its full potential.

Happy Listening.