TUBE or SS?

I agree with Tom. I think it is a general misnomer to categorize tube amps as missing in action in the bass department. Agreed that generally solid state has a tendency to have better CONTROL but tube amps DO have a tendency do articulate the timbre more realistically in the lower frequencies as well as the midrange. Craig if you want to hear a tube amp with some bass SLAM listen to an ARC D-250 servo; VT-200 mono's, Jadis 200's, Manley Reference. They may not reach the depths of say a big Krell but I hardly think you could want for too much (excepting maybe a lower electric bill). Personally I have owned and listened to many solid state amps over the years and after owning tube amps for the past 10 years and switching in solid amps on occasion to see if I was missing anything, I have come to the conclusion time and again I am not. Truth of timbre is most important to me and even though the gap may be closing I still don't hear it.

Craig It is a funny thing you should mention it. When I purchased a pair of Vandersteen 2C's in 1987 what sold me on the speakers was the electronics they were hooked up with the first time I listened, ARC M-100 mono's with an SP-11 pre-amp. Also listened with the Threshold SA-1 Class A mono's, didn't lose too much with those amps either. But there was something special about that ARC combo that never left me. I ended up buying an S-200 amp because I couldn't afford the ARC gear at the time. Let me tell you the S-200 wasn't an ARC tube amp or an SA-1. It really makes a difference. I have got to hear these BAT V-60's, I can't escape the buzz on those amps. Will