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For anyone who moved from tubes to solid state — a question

I'm the happy owner of a fairly new tube preamp and monoblock amps. I love it and have bought new tubes. To have another option for warmer weather or possibly a second listening room, I got a very good solid state integrated. I've run the tube preamp with the solid state amp and it sounds quite nice. I love all tubes, too.

But this question is for you. Please forget the convenience factor for a moment, including the issue of tube replacement etc. Also, forget about those cases where you bought new speakers and needed more power, etc.

Assuming you had quality tube gear with sufficient power — here's the question if you abandoned tubes for SONIC reasons:

What what is that tubes couldn't give you?
What did your solid state gear do for you which was so much better that you divorced to marry anew?

I'm curious about what people list as the positive sonic reasons they love solid state (including A, AB, D, etc.).

Thanks.
128x128hilde45
bigkidz
3,404 posts
 
This IMO is a general question as it does not apply to all amps SS or Tubes.  My old Lafayette tube amp will probably out perform most SS amps. My Class A amp sounds different and each has advantages the other does not.  I prefer this tube amp myself but it is a monster weight wise.  I build a hybrid power amp tube input and bi-polar transistor output.  It is a point-to-point wired amp using customer transformers, chokes, top resistors and capacitors.  You cannot find another amp build like this.  It sounds like a combined SS & Tube amp.

@mglik - maybe a true Class A amp would come close.

Happy Listening.
dbb
208 posts
 
I switched back to solid state because it produced better clarity. That's important if you like large symphonic works with lots of subtle detail. Tubes smeared the detail

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,942 posts
 
Take something like the Benchmark AHB2 noise and distortion is below audibly of humans
Yes- what is happening here is that this amp has enough feedback to sort things out. This value tends to be north of about 35dB. By 'sort things out' I mean that the feedback value is so high that it can compensate for the distortion caused by the application of the feedback (which is what causes brightness in many solid state amps going back 50 years); its an impressive accomplishment.
decooney
2,186 posts
 
It's always interesting reading when designers work very hard to make solid state and hybrid amplifiers to "sound like a tube amp". 

While I like and rotate both, when its time to simply become most engaged listening to the music, its all tube.  
wig's avatar
wig
1,274 posts
 
It really comes down to preference and system compatibility; my 25 watts Triode KT88 is way more resolving and transparent than my 18 Watts Class A SS and this is at normal listening levels; the clarity is just amazing and I could not believe that the Class A SS was masking that much detail...

It’s hard to produce the dimensionality and musicality of tubes even though a tube pre and SS will get you in the realm but it still does not check all boxes for many tube fans, to include myself 😄

Wig
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