Tube versus SS

@mikelavigne

Thanks for you answer. If I read you right, then it matters getting the big dawg Equi=tech as it does a better job than say a Niagara 7000? The Equi=tech is/does the same thing as a 7000 only a lot more of it?

If only Garth Powell would suddenly appear and render his thoughts?

With apologies to OP for the deviation. I love tubes but good/great high end is a matter of preference. The other day I heard a Peachtree integrated into some Totem speakers and it was lovely. Room was good.

Mikelavigne, that is so true.  My first love was a  Phase Linear 4000, it did everything; you could alter the music so many ways, and not stop until everything sounded exactly like you wanted it to sound.

"Equalizers" were the rage back then.  I went to a high end store and non of the equipment even had tone controls; "What is this, no tone controls?".  That's when I came to the realization that what I really wanted to hear was whatever the artist presented; no more, no less.

If you prefer to "sculpture" the audio to your specifications, that's fine, that's what I used to do.

There are so many different things that sound "good'. It's not until you make the decision to want to hear only what the artist presented that you will be on the path to "Nirvana". This is a very narrow and difficult path to follow.

All amplifiers work with DC. AC is converted to DC inside all amplifiers thru transformers, rectifiers, hi freq filters and smoothing capacitors. Lower wattage power amps may also use regulators. Because of this, the quality of the mains AC has virtually NO effect on the sound (the DC) if the amplifier is properly grounded and there are no ground loops.

ALL the necessary design to make the DC as smooth as possible are ALL included in the amp itself. Noise reduction, CMMR, smoothing, ripple reduction and transient current capability are ALL included in the power supply of the amp itself.

Where you need a good quality clean AC is if you are using AC motors, like synchronous and induction.  These may be driving your turntable and their rotational stability is directly affected by the quality of the AC.  Even then, most turntables these days internally synthesize their own AC thru precision electronics if they are using an AC motor.

Therefore, power conditioners are therefore a complete waste of money for amplifiers. The only (maybe) possible use they have is for safety against over voltage spikes (lightning ?).  

The reason that most people "feel" that tubes sound "better" is most likely due to the 2nd order harmonic distortion that tubes inherently introduce. Essentially they are listening to distorted music. It is an irony that audiophiles claim they want to listen to the exact reproduction of the sound (which the SS gives you) but then again they prefer the tube sound (distorted).

For any device costing over a few thousand bucks, the sound preference is more of a personal choice rather than "quality" of the amplifier.

Cakyol, you get the prize for the most erroneous post I've read today.

How good the DC is will be determined by how bad the AC was, as well as the quality of components in the "power supply" which is where AC is turned into DC.