SS Amps will never sound as good as tubes.The only reason they became popular was there was more profit in MFG them. |
Uh oh not this topic again. |
I'm not going to get technical with this but: If you ever read a ad for a ss amp that says it has the warmth of a tube amp, then that should tell you what tubes can do. I believe the only thing that will make a difference is the cost over time for tube maintance.(rolling, etc)Power over sonics is a tricky thing. |
If you like listening to a CD or LP from beginning to end, go with tubes. If you like listening to certain parts of songs and go through your entire media collection, go with Solid State.
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Neither is good. I use the other type of AMP. Much better than tubes or SS |
I do not know of any amps ever that have been made of Stainless Steel. |
Well I use tubes on top and S/S on the bottom.the reason is obvious tubes sound better for vocals and mids and highs but lack in bass and the solid state stuff is where it excels in. |
Tubes sound better because of their inherant slowness which some people call warmth. Solid state sounds fasterwhich some people call harsh.
McIntosh makes amps which have had their tubes replaced with transisters and autoformers which makes them more powerful but still soft. Their resale value is never less than 35cents on the dollar so if you can get a good deal on a used one 50-60 cents or so You'll never lose. Besides they also look the best. |
I second the tube top end and the solid state bottom end configuration. My first love is Jazz but I do listen to R&B and some CHOICE urban flavor and tubes generally just don't cut it on music mixed to be dynamic, fast and played loudly. |
Hold on here. A solid state amplifier can in fact be made to sound tubelike. Many sucessful examples were Class A designs. These were large, heavy and ran hot.;the very thing solid state was supposed to have eliminated.Ultimately though, there have been just as many blunders on both sides of the fence. I run tubes because I value ultimate naturalness in the voice. No solid state has been able to deliver this that I have heard. They have come close, but still no cigar. |
Try an Aloia with the inductive power supply......close, and maybe part of a cigar? |
you should have both ready to switch depending on your itch. but it has to be single ended tube and a good mosfet design like the bel amps. |
I would have to say get and retain both. I like to switch
every once and a while, they both have their inherit
strengths and weaknesses. |
would you recommend with my system - NAD Silver Series CD, Pre and Power (250w) plus Dynaudio 1.3SE.
I am very interested in hearing the tube difference - would I hear enough of a difference maintaining the NAD Pre? |
Racers I agree. I've owned the best of tubes for years before hearing the Aloia(inductive). It's the best I've heard with reliability and cost |
Have you ever heard an Goldmund amplifier.
Those are solid state, but the sound is the best I could hear in my life. Fast, articulate, warm, strong bass, etc.
Tubes lovers: you must hear that before a final decision. |
I think what sounds best is more dependent on the rest of your system. I personally have never cared for tubes in my system but I have very laid back components and tubes made it sound mushy. Thats not to say that tubes cant sound good only that it wasnt a good match for what I had. |
tubes will reproduce good recordings closer to the way they were intended to sound then s.s.-that is with the right mix of equipment and room acoustics.basically trial and error-hopefully less error!I don't think I will ever have my system perfect,but it's fun trying. |
Degustibus non disputandum. Hey folks, we are talking about audio perception (and that's all it is) that is so refined that we are detecting bats in the belfry. |
