Broadstone, I think you do indeed have an opinion about tubes vs transistors based on your experience. Tubes do indeed have a more 'rounded' quality as you pointed out in your initial post.
This is because they tend to have less higher-ordered harmonic distortion than transistors tend to have. The ear is very sensitive to these harmonics (5th and above) and uses them to determine how loud a sound actually is (rather than trying to get that information from the fundamental frequency).
It may interest you to know that you can take this a step further. Amplifiers that employ loop negative feedback will also have increased amounts of higher ordered harmonics as a result of the feedback itself. I know this sounds counterintuitive but this has been well-known for the better part of 60 years! The amount of additional harmonic content is slight (in trace amounts and hard to measure on test equipment) but since our ears are tuned to detect these harmonics (which, when feedback is added, can go up as high as the 81st harmonic), we can hear them with ease.
If you can find an amplifier that does not employ loop feedback and will also work correctly on your loudspeakers (feedback is often used to get flatter frequency response) then the distortion components will be lower orders and generally are considerably less annoying. Tubes, triodes in particular, can be quite linear so feedback is not a requirement for low distortion. As a result there are a good number of low or zero feedback tube amps on the market. Something to think about...
This is because they tend to have less higher-ordered harmonic distortion than transistors tend to have. The ear is very sensitive to these harmonics (5th and above) and uses them to determine how loud a sound actually is (rather than trying to get that information from the fundamental frequency).
It may interest you to know that you can take this a step further. Amplifiers that employ loop negative feedback will also have increased amounts of higher ordered harmonics as a result of the feedback itself. I know this sounds counterintuitive but this has been well-known for the better part of 60 years! The amount of additional harmonic content is slight (in trace amounts and hard to measure on test equipment) but since our ears are tuned to detect these harmonics (which, when feedback is added, can go up as high as the 81st harmonic), we can hear them with ease.
If you can find an amplifier that does not employ loop feedback and will also work correctly on your loudspeakers (feedback is often used to get flatter frequency response) then the distortion components will be lower orders and generally are considerably less annoying. Tubes, triodes in particular, can be quite linear so feedback is not a requirement for low distortion. As a result there are a good number of low or zero feedback tube amps on the market. Something to think about...