I've seen testing where oil caps did marvelously well in terms of passing a signal with minimal degradation. Don't ask me what brands they were, as the brands weren't mentioned. Having said that, many find oil caps to be soft, warm and musical sounding. It is possible that they sound less "accurate" because many folks that grew up listening to lower grade SS gear were used to listening to non-linear distortions, which resulted in high end emphasis or "false detail".
As to why SS gear is typically rated for higher power levels than tube based designs, it has to do with current capacity. SS gear can typically pass a LOT more current. Since wattage equals voltage multiplied by the current in the circuit, greater current capacity with the same voltage will result in more total power output. Too much current will typically "blow" a tube faster than it will a transistor. Whereas tubes "open up" and fail, a transistor can blow a few junctions and still keep operating. It might not work as well as it used to under extreme conditions, but it is still working. As such, tubes are typically more fragile and either "work" or "don't work" acceptably. This is especially true of power output tubes in amplifiers. Sean
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As to why SS gear is typically rated for higher power levels than tube based designs, it has to do with current capacity. SS gear can typically pass a LOT more current. Since wattage equals voltage multiplied by the current in the circuit, greater current capacity with the same voltage will result in more total power output. Too much current will typically "blow" a tube faster than it will a transistor. Whereas tubes "open up" and fail, a transistor can blow a few junctions and still keep operating. It might not work as well as it used to under extreme conditions, but it is still working. As such, tubes are typically more fragile and either "work" or "don't work" acceptably. This is especially true of power output tubes in amplifiers. Sean
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