If I understand your question correctly, as an EE, my vote goes to the tube amp. Tubes are the hot parts of the amp and are outside the "box" in most cases. Heatsinks will invariably heat the amp and the capacitors inside it which will not be good in the long run. The capacitors are the parts that hate heat - not so much the transistors or tubes.
more reliable amp: tube or solid state class A
i got to reading this thread:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1144724173&openfrom&1&4#1
i require no convincing that class A sounds better than AB or D or whatever else, but the efficiency is terrible, with the efficiency losses being reflected as heat.
and heat, as we know, causes thermal breakdown. this is a matter of engineering: the hotter a component runs, the shorter the mean time between failure. simple stuff.
but here's the question: if we took 2 equally hot-running amps, one tube and one SS, over the long haul, what would be more reliable? the tube amp, or the SS one?
i'm thinking the tube amp, solely b/c the tube is the hottest part, and its failure is accomodated for in the design (you simply plug in another tube). a hot running SS amp will eventually burn out resistors / transistors, and joe audiophile will be forced to send that to the factory for replacement.
(i am going to do some HVAC work on my room, and if i can keep in cool in mid July, i will be moving to the winner of this argument)
thx
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?aamps&1144724173&openfrom&1&4#1
i require no convincing that class A sounds better than AB or D or whatever else, but the efficiency is terrible, with the efficiency losses being reflected as heat.
and heat, as we know, causes thermal breakdown. this is a matter of engineering: the hotter a component runs, the shorter the mean time between failure. simple stuff.
but here's the question: if we took 2 equally hot-running amps, one tube and one SS, over the long haul, what would be more reliable? the tube amp, or the SS one?
i'm thinking the tube amp, solely b/c the tube is the hottest part, and its failure is accomodated for in the design (you simply plug in another tube). a hot running SS amp will eventually burn out resistors / transistors, and joe audiophile will be forced to send that to the factory for replacement.
(i am going to do some HVAC work on my room, and if i can keep in cool in mid July, i will be moving to the winner of this argument)
thx