@newbee "Sort of funny, I think. For most of us transistors did come first! Then
there was the tube 'Renaissance'. Wonder why anyone was interested if
transistors were so good? :-)"
Such an EXCELLENT point!
I grew up with transistor audio, and felt happy enough. I really only cared about power. Ideally, with low distortion figures, though they all seemed to have that. Solid state amps of the late 80s - mid 90s delivered on that, for sure. As I began to roll in the money from teenage jobs, I moved up the audio ladder, chasing more power, loudness, blow you back thumping bass, and adrenaline. Tubes seemed archaic, technologically backward, and stupid since they produced so little power in comparison. I even disliked the look of exposed tube amplifiers. Even worse, the old Dynacos I kept reading about (and all their mods) in the likes of The Sensible Sound looked like an invitation to getting electrocuted. Who could be dumb enough to own something like that?
Spending a lot of my spare time hanging out in the local stereo shops in my late teen years, I began to hear tube amps from the likes of ARC, CJ, Cary, Counterpoint, Quicksilver, etc. Back then, lots of guys used to congregate in the shops in my ares. Those who I befriended in those places talked them up as not being as ridiculous as I considered them. As I opened my mind and my ears, they provided a different, and in many cases, what I considered better sound than I'd previously experienced. Yes, they still played loud (100 dB and more) enough, but I began to listen for different things, and could hear more nuanced and beautiful aspects I didn't previously hear. It actually changed the sort of music I listened to, and opened up an entirely new world for me. Eventually, I found better tube amplifiers from Air Tight, Jadis, and VAC and decided those amplifiers felt best to me, and I bought one. The rest is history.
So, transistors DID come first for me. And I ended up with tube amplifiers
