honest1 is pretty right on in his post. There is a lot of difference between amps of any type.
The Pass aleph amps are truely sweet SS amps. I compared the Aleph 3 side by side to an audio research VT100 tube amp with a wadia 860 running direct into either and a pair of Dunlavy athenas. The sound was very nice from both and i could have lived with either. The ARC had more openness in the top end though. That said the ARC amps tend to be pretty solid state sounding tube amps with a solid low end. I ended up with VTL which still keeps the bottom solid but warms the mids a little more. Then you have some of the CJ amps which are the stereotypical tuby sounding amps with soft bass and very warm mids.
Ajahu, i listen to mostly blues and jazz with a dose of electronic thrown in for good measure and wouldn't trade my tubes for the world. You just need enough power to feed your speakers and enough current to control the bottom and life is good. The sound of modern rock...any rock for that matter...seems to be so dependent on production quality that it's a crap shoot wheather it will sound good in any high res system imo.
The Pass aleph amps are truely sweet SS amps. I compared the Aleph 3 side by side to an audio research VT100 tube amp with a wadia 860 running direct into either and a pair of Dunlavy athenas. The sound was very nice from both and i could have lived with either. The ARC had more openness in the top end though. That said the ARC amps tend to be pretty solid state sounding tube amps with a solid low end. I ended up with VTL which still keeps the bottom solid but warms the mids a little more. Then you have some of the CJ amps which are the stereotypical tuby sounding amps with soft bass and very warm mids.
Ajahu, i listen to mostly blues and jazz with a dose of electronic thrown in for good measure and wouldn't trade my tubes for the world. You just need enough power to feed your speakers and enough current to control the bottom and life is good. The sound of modern rock...any rock for that matter...seems to be so dependent on production quality that it's a crap shoot wheather it will sound good in any high res system imo.