Our we Lazy?


I want to start this thread by clearly stating that the purpose of this question was not to fight or rehash the battle of tube vs. solidstate as one being ultimately superior or better than the other one.I hope that besides personnal taste and the different "flavors" listeners enjoy, along with system matching, there is agreement that in the last ten to fifteen years that reference tube and solidstate amps sound very much alike and more like real music. The days of euphonic warm or detailed but harsh-bright sonic signatures are gone when it comes to world class amps.When my audiofile friends and I discuss power amps we always come back to these questions;1}With the finest solidstate amps[Pass Labs,Rowland,Ayre,Edge,etc.]sounding so terrific, why put up with the hassle of re-tubing,getting the right tubes NOS etc.,and the expense of re-tubing on a on going basis?I guess one man's "tube rolling" for pleasure is another man's pain in the butt.2}The sound of a tube amp changes over time as the tubes age, why put up with this hassle when it can be avoided? We like the fact that a solidstate amp will preform at its optimial level everytime we listen to our systems. Please you all, these questions are sincere and not an attack on tube amps or their owners.As stated already the goal was not to fight over something that is obvious ,world class amps are world class amps regardless if there tube or solidstate! We have listened to wonderful sounding tube amps[VTL,LAMM,ARC,CJ,etc.]and thought they were great, however they offered no special virtues that would lead us to put up with what we regard as "hassles" compared with solidstate amps. We would love to hear from our fellow GON members regarding this topic and what has been your experience regarding this topic.Let's not fight but have FUN sharing our opinions and viewpionts on this topic. Remember we might just be "Lazy" audiofiles who rationalize our own position on this matter!
teajay

Showing 1 response by 1markr

From my perspective, I have been at this tube vs. SS crossroad for the past few months with my own system.

I have been using tube amps (very good ones at that) over the last three years, along with tubed preamps and tubed CD players / DACs. Over this past winter, I have met some good audiophile friends who helped me form a better educated opinion on this very topic for myself. They have either SS or hybrid systems that sounded simply wonderful, and I would be happy with either of their systems as my own.

In the meantime, my own system has become too complicated to just sit down and listen! My wife wouldn't touch it, and I found myself obsessed with tube rolling and biasing, re-biasing (perhaps a little too anal about it), and spent much time "waiting" for tube amps to warm up the requisite hour or more. I just wasn't having any fun anymore, and wasn't "enjoying the music". Perhaps I lost sight of what was most important.

I decided to get back into SS amplification, while maintaining my wonderful tubed front end. A great decision that was, as it turns out. I have not given up the flexibility of tailoring the sound to what I like, and I have not lost much of the tube virtues. I have gained some needed SS attributes (e.g. less noise, better bass, less heat output, etc.). Maybe I'm just lucky with the new synergy in my re-vamped system, but I'm sure enjoying what I'm hearing now, as well as the simplicity!