differences between tube and solid state designs


this topic may have been beaten to death.

however, my experience attending ces shows has demonstrated to my eras that the differences between push pull tube and solid state amplifiers sound very similar.

i notice today's tube amps, e.g., contad johnson, audio research, wolcott audio, etc., do not exhibit many of the classic colorations associated with tube designs and sound a lot like solid state, especially with respect to frequency response, i.e., spectral balance.

there may be still be slight audible differences between the 2 formats.

has anyone perceived a narrowing of sonic differences between the two designs and if so if differences are slight, why buy a tube amp.

note, i have deliberately excluded class a and single ended amps, at low wattage, from this discussion. some of them have more of a vintage or classic tube sound, especially relative to bass and treble response.
mrtennis

Showing 3 responses by phd

My experience with tube power amps is somewhat limited (having more experience with tube preamps) but none-the-less my take is & agree with Mrtennis that some of the newer tube designs do sound more like very good solid state with a higher noise floor, but some exceptions exist. I believe that the warmth encountered on the old tube designs is no more than some type of distortion. Given that, what benefits could one possibly realize from a quality tube design? I think the answer is & will always be they just simply allow the listener to hear deeper into the musical landscape, fleshing out more details. Plus you have the ability to change the sound by tube rolling. When you compare tube to midfi solid state there always seemed to be improvements in soundstaging & transparency, not to mention less grain. But regrdless how good some tube gear is, it's weakest link, aside from how it is engineered/designed, will always be the tube types used.
Biomimetic, I agree with you that the benefits of tubes far outweigh their shortcomings. To this day I have always felt the need to have tubes somewhere in my system. Once done the music becomes more involving & enjoyable. However I have encountered a few solid state designs that are darn good.
Jayarr, well said & how true in regards to tubes offering a 3 dimensional soundstage. Average solid state can be 2D and some of the better at best can offer 2.5D. Although I prefer solid state amplification coupled with a tube preamp, I have settled on a ss preamp. Just recently purchased a tube preamp that has no less than seven tubes and will be used as an alternative to my ss preamp. No law that I know says you can't own both.