The ups and downs of tube vs. SS...


I’d like to hear from the people that have had both. Why tube? Why SS? What are the ups and downs of both? How does owning one or both differ? I’ve always owned SS, but also lusted after tubes....
jtweed
128x128jtweed
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I’ve got a chance to buy a brand new, old stock Grant Fidelity Rita 880. I know nothing about it. Anyone know of this model? Any good?
i can get it for about 1/5th original retail. Should I go for it?
jtweed
"Should I go for it?"
Yes!  It reputed to be a very good push pull tube amplifier. Put a tube amplifier in your system, listen and judge for yourself. I believe that you'll like what you hear. 
Charles 
I’ve had both all SS & tube.
I now have both - tube preamp & SS amp.
I think you need tubes in the system.

I prefer in the preamp cause you can use NOS tubes & the cost is way less than power amps.

I drive some very inefficient electrostats that have impedance curves that drop to 1 ohm with big class A power amps.
You might be surprised to find that tube amps can manage a load like that. IME many people think ESLs are inefficient and difficult to drive but I find that isn't completely true- they are often more efficient than thought, and their load can be problematic for certain amps, depending on the ESL.

You are quite right that the dip in impedance occurs at high frequencies (plus a low down in the bass where they don't reproduce a signal much at all)  I have Martin Logan CLS (original). I did try  CJ Premier 11a on them and while doing a pretty decent job, it fell short of the Classe DR3 VHC I currently run on them, despite having 45 w as opposed to 70 w from the CJ.

OTOH, that same CJ is magic with my main system Wilson Maxx2, having plenty of punch.  Not as much as the Roland 5 I was using with them (now doing AV system service) and the bass is not as convincing, so those organ LPs could use a bit more grunt, but on most acoustic music, magic.  So much so that I haven't bothered trying a couple of other power amps I have (bridged pair of DR3 VHC and a Belles A) on that system - too busy listening happily to tibes.