There has been a debate in audio- tube vs transistor- for the last 50 years. The results of the debate are unimportant. What *is* important is understanding that the debate arises from a deeper conflict as described in the links to the Atma-Sphere site in T_bone's post.
As others have already pointed out, matching between amps and speakers is paramount. The equipment matching conversation also arises from the Voltage vs Power conflict.
I personally feel that the important thing here is the rules of human hearing. I think we can all accept that these rules are going to be violated by equipment that is not perfect (IOW all equipment), but that some will come closer to following those rules than others. I contend that the Rules of Human Hearing are in fact the most important thing in audio- without ears, we would have little interest in audio equipment :)
So what is the most important Rule, IOW what is the thing that is the most important to get right? IMO/IME it is the way we perceive loudness. This is done by the ear/brain system by sensing the presence of trace amounts of odd-ordered harmonics in the sound. The louder these harmonics (5th, 7th and 9th of the fundamental) the louder we will think the sound is.
If these harmonics are unnaturally enhanced, the sound will loose its natural quality. Many things can cause this enhancement, or distortion, but the 2 chief culprits are transistors and loop negative feedback. In fact, loop feedback is the bigger offender. It is possible to build zero-feedback transistor amplifiers to avoid this distortion, and those that have done so successfully are at the leading edge of the art of transistors. However, its a lot easier to do it with tubes (which, for the record, can have full power bandwidth as wide as the best transistor amplifiers).
This why I say the results of the old debate are unimportant- because either technology can be successful if we only know what it is that we are supposed to do (which is obey the rules of human hearing rather than meet an arbitrary set of specs that are meaningless to the human ear).
The objectivist vs subjectivist debate is nearly as old as the tube/transistor debate, and for the same reason. It too arises from the conflict of the Power and Voltage paradigms. The Voltage paradigm is responsible for a set of arbitrary specs that I referred to earlier; we know from listening that they are not important. The Power Paradigm attempts to follow the Rules of Human Hearing.
Don't feel bad if you go into a dealership and get a blank stare when you ask about this stuff, but any dealer worth his salt will invite you to audition the equipment. Until someone has developed a set of specs that if followed, will guarantee that the Rules are being followed, audition is about the only game in town.
As others have already pointed out, matching between amps and speakers is paramount. The equipment matching conversation also arises from the Voltage vs Power conflict.
I personally feel that the important thing here is the rules of human hearing. I think we can all accept that these rules are going to be violated by equipment that is not perfect (IOW all equipment), but that some will come closer to following those rules than others. I contend that the Rules of Human Hearing are in fact the most important thing in audio- without ears, we would have little interest in audio equipment :)
So what is the most important Rule, IOW what is the thing that is the most important to get right? IMO/IME it is the way we perceive loudness. This is done by the ear/brain system by sensing the presence of trace amounts of odd-ordered harmonics in the sound. The louder these harmonics (5th, 7th and 9th of the fundamental) the louder we will think the sound is.
If these harmonics are unnaturally enhanced, the sound will loose its natural quality. Many things can cause this enhancement, or distortion, but the 2 chief culprits are transistors and loop negative feedback. In fact, loop feedback is the bigger offender. It is possible to build zero-feedback transistor amplifiers to avoid this distortion, and those that have done so successfully are at the leading edge of the art of transistors. However, its a lot easier to do it with tubes (which, for the record, can have full power bandwidth as wide as the best transistor amplifiers).
This why I say the results of the old debate are unimportant- because either technology can be successful if we only know what it is that we are supposed to do (which is obey the rules of human hearing rather than meet an arbitrary set of specs that are meaningless to the human ear).
The objectivist vs subjectivist debate is nearly as old as the tube/transistor debate, and for the same reason. It too arises from the conflict of the Power and Voltage paradigms. The Voltage paradigm is responsible for a set of arbitrary specs that I referred to earlier; we know from listening that they are not important. The Power Paradigm attempts to follow the Rules of Human Hearing.
Don't feel bad if you go into a dealership and get a blank stare when you ask about this stuff, but any dealer worth his salt will invite you to audition the equipment. Until someone has developed a set of specs that if followed, will guarantee that the Rules are being followed, audition is about the only game in town.