Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?

Transistors don't transmit, they modulate. Therefore what follows is a representation of the original input signal, it's not the input signal itself amplified. Tubes amplify the signal itself. That's an important distinction. Furthermore, tube circuits should have less components in them to screw up the sound. Obviously tubes have their own issues, but only the best of the best solid state circuits can compare to tube gear that you can buy from small manufacturers for a fraction of the price of the high end transistor gear. Just stick to octal tube gear. All that said, it would be unfair to not recognize the improvements in solid state of late. High speed demands are raising the bar for passive and active devices, therefore semiconductors are getting better and more accurate all the time, but for now the best bang for the buck is still tube equipment. It's just too bad that it took me decades to figure this out!

Are you saying that transistors process the signal, the result of this processing being a representation of the signal, that's amplification is only part of what happens during that processing ? And if so the outcome will always or almost always be a less pure signal compared to tubes.

Yes, the signal into a transister modulates the DC in the following stage, hence the term semi-conductor though properly written the hyphen isn’t there of course. It doesn’t actually conduct. There is always a PN junction, or a barrier. In a tube the electrons flow through. That likely accounts for the preception that tubes sound faster when dealing with good quality tubes in a well designed tube circuit. It only takes one crappy capacitor to screw up either type of circuit.

Wow, I just got an email alerting me to a post, which apparently the author pulled saying that we are the worst. How silly. Bikers will argue in favor of their favorite bike, car enthusiasts will argue the merits of their favorite car, ad nauseam. Humans argue their positions, and often try to win others over to their positions, so now I guess humans are the worst becsuse we don’t allow the fittest amoung us to lead us around by the nose, and tell us what we must think. Some love dark, IMO, dull sounding equipment because it doesn’t allow poorly engineered recordings to sound bad, I don’t go for that, but I understand it. I find it hard to believe due to my aversion to it now, but I used the enjoy equipment that would make people’s ears bleed, in search of detail to excess. If one likes darker sound a neutral system may sound bright to you. The point is that you ought to buy equipment that works for you! If you seek advice, you ought to attempt to seek out people who share your likes and dislikes, which is impossible to do completely, but describing what you like and don’t may help a little. The point is that while even I will slip at times, I ultimately know that tastes vary. There are ultimate truths, so when someone doesn’t understand that, one may take them to task, but that’s largely how man has learned, through reasoned debate. New scientific theories are rarely immediately accepted because they often displace older "established" beliefs, so the scientists battle things out intellectually and in laboratories. This forum should be a place for vigorous discussion and debate, because it’s all about learning our hobby just a little bit better, so rant on folks, just try to remain civil and understand that what you prefer may not be, well, more accurately stated, will not be agreed upon by all.