Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

Elizabeth - You are far from the only one that has had problems with Counterpoint electronics. To me they were one of the greatest sounding products available in the 80's and early 90's but they also had a notorious reputation for self destructing. Example of a design taken to the extreme limits and beyond. Don't use the Counterpoint as your only frame of reference in tube designs. They are one of the worst examples,(early Jadis also comes to mind). Conrad Johnson in addition to ARC is another well designed product. I had a PV-7 preamp where the tubes lasted over 4 years and were still going strong until I sold the unit along with a complete NOS tube set that I never needed. It is sad that many people don't try tubes because of a bad experience or what they have heard.

Tubes are like a car I once owned. Before Ford involvement, Jaguar ownership was very much a love/hate relationship. Transistors are like a car I now own. The performance of my 13 year old Porsche is exciting in a different way. But it is very much more reliable. And I don't even have to carry a spare fuel pump with me.

Tubegroover is right on every count. As far as which is better, I prefer tubes. I cannot say that solid state couldn't make me or another person happy. But, I do know there is a certain rightness to me with tubes that doesn't come along very often with solid state. Some people accept NO substitute for tubes. The best analogy along those lines I have heard a person put it is tubes are like having a dog. Yeah, they mess on the floor, need to be walked, fed, etc. But, they are a real, living thing. Solid state is like a stuffed dog. No maintenance, but nothing else(feedback, reciprocation, realness, etc.) either.

tubes may *not* be as reliable as solid-state - so what? that's why i won't sell my electrocompaniet ec-1a solid-state preamp - a very nice piece in its own right, it can be used if/when the melos music director is getting fixed! (like now!) :>) i can't imagine *any* solid-state preamp coming anywhere near the sonics of this piece, at anywhere near the price ($1800, used). definitely worth the trouble. doug

I have tubes in my pre-amp (BAT) and solid state amp (Marsh). However, I am a big advocate of pure solid state sound. Good solid state equipment these days does not have the drawbacks traditionally associated with solid state (ie. harsh sound). You get a much more accurate reproduction of the source with all of its glories and limitations. Tube amps are in my mind either "over-engineered" or colored. The colorings in my case detract from musical enjoyment. I find it curious that many tube proponents would rather die than hear to the colored sound of certain mass equipment, yet they are themselves coloring their music, though in a very different way. I do not believe everything is a matter of taste: educating and developing your taste are what it;s all about, whether it be in music, audio, wine, art, or whatever. Underlying this, I believe, is a quest for truth. In this case truth is quite easily defined as getting as closely as possible to the recorded source. I believe the good solid sytate amps of today, with prices starting at around $1,500, accomplish that better than any tube amp.