Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?

erik....squires - the tube revival started with William Zane Johnson, but also with the review of his SP-3 in The Abso!ute Sound, which also started publishing at that time.  It was TAS and its reviewers who re-discovered the pleasures of tubes and promoted the POV.  However, they also enjoyed and appreciated some solid state gear.  For example, the Audionics CC-2 was the first low TIM amplifier and the TAS staff loved it (and the BT-2) preamp because it lacked the "nasties" of some (much) of the solid state gear at the time.  Since then, both technologies have matured toward neutrality, so whichever way you prefer to go it is less likely to be "wrong" than in the past.

"Apparently Deforest had even less luck with the ladies, married four times..."

"The one who marries for the second time did not deserve to get divorced the first time."-My father, frequently.


He never mentioned about four times.

@glupson 
Hey Glupson,,,sorry so long to notice your comment ref my post.  Thanks for taking note.

"Why was/is anybody buying anything else? That would be an interesting marketing research, or at least Audiogon thread."

While I should have been a little lighter stated in my example to avoid distracting a reader from my intended point, I was hoping to use the Pass Labs XA/X Series as an example, since they are the same price point by the same manufacturer, and best fit the line I was attempting to draw within the scope of my knowledge and experience with manufacturers.  Yet, do not misunderstand...I thoroughly enjoyed your response, and understand your point made.

I agree with the thread notion you present ...lots of food for thought would likely be produced there.  Generally though....   Even if something is mostly considered as best in its target, that does not equal perfect, nor that everyone agrees.  So with the inevitable weaknesses or drawbacks, there are so many factors, such as  compatibility and personal needs.  Throw in individual sound preferences, individual home preferences, local availability, and even individual awareness or education, to name a few of many.

To apply that to the Pass Labs XA Analog series... they are Huge...Heavy,,,OMG HOT...draw continuous hi power consumption even at idle (600 Watts I believe for the XA 250, or something like that) … have a distinct look not to everyone's taste … then other stuff with compatibility, sound preferences, ... hey,,,even unknown gems that compete but are not known to the masses, etc. 

Sorry to be “no fun” here but imho like vinyl, high priced speaker cable, high priced preamps, speaker breakin, power conditioners, equipment pedestals and on and on, tubes are just another audio myth designed to generate sales. Money is best spent on a good solid state amp and speakers. Diminishing returns is very real as well. I’m listing to stacked ET lft-8b’s driven by a B&K PT-3 preamp and two dynamo stereo 400 ii amps connected by copper speaker cable and I guess copper interconnects. Probably a $7000 setup though I paid probably $3000. I’m pretty convinced that my setup is high enough on the curve of diminishing returns to be considered as equivalent to the best available.

That did not happen so its a dream.