Tubes vs Solid State - Imaging, Soundstaging, 3D

Charles, I don't share your view that Wolf thought I was "kidding around". He is an adult. He made a choice and knew exactly what he was saying. Only a sick individual makes fun of someone's grief.

Thanks tube for your condolences.

Mel,
I have no idea what's in someone else's mind/heart so I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. You and your family have my sympathy.
Charles,

Michaelkingdom, another data point for you. I’ve always been curious but leery of tube stuff, so have always had SS. It’s been a steady climb over several years to decent gear. Some changes brought immediate grins, some took a little time to internalize, like higher resolution/closer to the source isn’t always more fun to me, but usually brings better imaging and space. Regardless, the sound eventually becomes de facto and I can appreciate it for what it is. Still, there was that nagging itch to try tubes.

Yes, this is another tube testimonial. I recently put together a second (cheap) system and decided it was the perfect time to take the plunge – no worries if the things failed. Let me just say that the clichés about tubes are true. I’m not saying this system is better than my SS gear, but even with older, lower level source components and speakers, way cheap cabling and no power conditioning, I can hear good things I don’t with SS, including a quality to the imaging and sense of space. It comes down to instrument tone and the note-to-note flow. Someone said it similarly earlier, the instrument’s image and the space itself sound more real – better tone and more gradual decay, more fun listening.

Melbguy1- I'm sorry for your loss. If you review Wolf's other posts, you will see that his comment was entirely in keeping w his usual irreverence. With regard to the actual subject matter here, you say

In my experience solid-state amplifiers have the tendency to grab and hold my attention for longer than tubes do. I think this is because I visually listen to the music and am constantly trying to figure out where a guitarist is standing, how close the singer is to the microphone, how many microphones were used for the drums, etc.

Isn't that exactly the problem w ss amps? You're thinking about the engineering of the recording and where the guitar player is standing, not experiencing the music and appreciating the artist's gift to us. I would describe your response as "analytical" vs. what many "tube-ophiles" describe as an emotional response. And maybe that's the yin and yang of this discussion. Different strokes for different folks, YMMV, IMHO, LSMFT, SQ3R ;-) BTW, that means that the last sentence was meant in a light-hearted, playful manner, not trying to be rude or sarcastic. OK, that new last sentence was sort of sarcastic. My bad. Relax; it's all good. Any sorry again for your loss. It will get better over time and remember it wouldn't hurt so much if there hadn't been so much love.

" In my experience solid-state amplifiers have the tendency to grab and hold my attention for longer than tubes do. I think this is because I visually listen to the music and am constantly trying to figure out where a guitarist is standing, how close the singer is to the microphone, how many microphones were used for the drums, etc."

"Isn't that exactly the problem w ss amps?"

No, not always. Its not unique to tube amps. I've heard both types, including the ones I own, enable this kind of critical listening for me quite well.

The best tube and SS gear tends to converge towards a more similar sound quality. Its not unique to either technology I find, though each has its unique flavors of sound that each does well, perhaps better than the other as well for sure. Which flavor, the common more "vanilla" sound quality or the more uniquely flavored ones, one prefers is a completely up to the individual.

SO the best tube and SS sound tends to be similar I would say, but there are many unique flavors of each to choose from as well.