Solid State for Rock and Tubes for Jazz, Yes or No

Implying a hifi system task distinction between reproduced jazz and whatever people call rock is really weird to me. There is every bit as much dynamic juice in jazz as rock, although rock is often more compressed and "mono-dynamic." "Flea watt" amps are never good for loudness except very nearfield (or using insanely efficient speakers) regardless of musical type...but dynamic orchestral music and well recorded modern jazz kicks it just as much as any rock, and often is much MORE dynamic. John Scofield albums can be funkier than most rock stuff and will push a lower powered amp over the edge in seconds if you think you need higher dbs...or you're drunk. If you listen to thumpy dubstep or hippity hop I doubt you own a "flea watt" amp anyway, but my 60 watt pc tube amp and 150 watt sub light up my listening room fine, be it Jethro Tull, Monk, or Mahler. And I agree that a reasonable wattage tube amp often sounds better when cranked than a SS amp because it clips warmer.

I find my system has difficulty with Algerian Death Polka.

No Eric Johnson for 15 years...not easy.

I use a tube amp with a MOSFET REL sub...thus I am conflicted as to what camp I'm in. Where am I, and who are these people? I'm frightened.

I love the absolute distinction of how "rock" music is supposed to be heard. Classical music is supposed to be heard acoustically while surrounded with smelly old people in one of thousands of seat location options in a packed concert hall, and jazz is supposed to be enjoyed through a haze of cigarette smoke and waitress yammer while seated behind a hipster glued to his iPhone that's not supposed to exist in 1959. I've been a professional musician since 1967, I mix live shows from Richie Havens to Bill Charlap (in November...and it will sound GREAT using stereo condenser mics and a zero compression full range system), my band opened for a Led Zepplin show on the second half of their first tour, and I've worked in recording studios all over the place. All that and I will never claim that my gear is "genre sensitive" or it's OUTTA HERE.

My belabored and by now tedious point is that dynamics and slam and full range are not mutually exclusive relative to genre. If your system is capable of reasonably reproducing low notes, high notes, and middle notes, you should be happy. Skrillex is not going to borrow my rig for his next gig, and there is no place in my listening room for 2000 watt 18" woofers. Unless I move the coffee table.

I have to give proper "props" properly to my 10 or 12 year old REL Q150E subwoofer...I bought this thing a couple of years ago from an apparent fool who noted the grill cloth was missing but otherwise it "seemed" to work, for about 200 bucks. Grill repaired and looking like new, I built a clean Neutrik Speakon (angled...had to special order that one) based cable, added a garden hose thick PS Audio AC cord, tightened all the bolts, and into the system it went. Having owned some more or less "full range" speakers in the past I thought I had enough bass around myself but now I can't imagine not using this thing. It's amazing, and it allows some fine tuning of bass level here and there that more than makes up for having zero tone adjustment on my preamp. I actually do use powered 18" subs in pro sound work, but somehow this little 10" wonder gets bass so right in my listening room I never feel the need for more....wait...Skrillex is calling...weird...brb...

I find that when I cram a symphony orchestra into my listening room they can't properly access their instruments...so everybody just stands there crammed together like sardines on a subway at rush hour...mostly without the sardine odor. Mostly. The sound can best be described as angry muttering.

Live un-amplified muttering is an acoustic phenomena that, weirdly, is noiseless by nature. I worry more about the ACTUAL floor.