Help learn diff.between SS and Tube

Less bass is not necessarily a bad thing. Lesser quality bass is. Most tube designs do not have the bass impact of similarly priced SS amps. Heft/weight/slam are a few terms used to describe bass impact while definition/articulation and tuneful might be used to describe quality. Even fervent monitor disciples like bass, but what draws so many to the monitor is the waist-up (midrange to treble) purity and coherence. Quality bass and deep bass in one package is very expensive. If you can't afford the package then honestly decide which you prefer and aim for that mark. Also try fidgeting with speaker placement again; their sound has changed due to the amp replacement and so, perhaps, should their position.

Your tube amp should be more holigraphic in it's imaging than the SS amp also. I totally agree w/Tomthompson less over exagerated bass is more realistic. You're just used to the SS amp and it's bass boost. This sells amps to the masses. Not all SS amps are this way,but you will have to spend big money to get accurate bass in either SS or tube. When I say big money, I mean more than the two amps you are auditioning.

Thank you guys, I have done some placement, and repositiong of acoustic panels, as well as re-tweeked my Lexicon, and I found the sweeet spot, and I think also got used to the "tubey" bass. It does not have the impact as you say, but I think the quality difference is more smooth in the Anthem. The highs and mids are just incredible. Thank you for helping with your suggestions, they really paid off!!! Can't wait to try different tubes just to see....

philefreak: thank you for at least acknowledging that mid-fi tube amps provide "inaccuarte" bass. i'm confident that you also realize that high-end ss amps are as "holographic," if not more so, as like-priced tube amps. plus, the ss amps are quieter, less expensive to operate and don't require constant tweeking. as to mdomnick's post: no, you ain't gonna get a whole lot of bass punch outta the anthem; this doesn't mean that the anthem's "more accurate" than a similarly priced ss amp, just that its distortion curve is different.

How to tell ? Well in general, if sounds good it's a tube amp, otherwise it's probably a solid state amp. Just kidding ( a little ) . Tube amps have a certain liveness to the sound, a little more 'thereness', like the performer is in your room. To hear it, listen to an electric guitar solo, a solo with a wood instrument (like a cello), and a vocal. Next listen to a ss amp in the same system. The notes with the tube amp will have a certain 'ring' to them. Imagine the sound of a wood guitar being played before and after a coat of paint is applied to it. It rings less after the paint is applied. My amps are actually solid state.