I agree with all of the posts here. I have found more realisim in all aspects of recorded music with tube versus ss. I changed from a cj 11a to mf2500 and lost IMO some inner detail but did gain some bass extention. My speakers are Thiel 3.6's and are relatively inefficient so I am sure the additional power of the mf2500 helped. I was amazed,however; at how well the 11a drove my Thiels. When I discussed this fact with cj (knut) he stated that tube amps produce about twice the power of ss; something about plate voltage. In other words the 11a at 70wpc is pretty close to 140wpc ss. This helped explain why the 11a drove my Thiels relatively well.
Reproduction of acoustic instruments with tube amp
I'm a "SS guy" looking to get a tube amp to play with. My biggest complaint with the tube amps that I have heard is that acoustic instruments don't sound real to me. Is this a common perception or have I just not heard a good tube amp? What design and/or type of output tubes should I look for if I want good reproduction of acoustic instruments? Any links to some docs on this topic would be appreciated as well. My budget is under $2k, speakers are 4ohm, 87dB but I don't need a lot of power (apartment). Thanks.