Tubes vs Solid State - Imaging, Soundstaging, 3D

Hmmm, it seems a lot more practical to just do whatever you can to minimize noise. Even if you can' hear it explicitly, it typically affects sound quality in a negative way.

Again if I had to choose my noise, I would probably choose the more randomized, white noise, hissy type than any other type that might have more specific interactions with the actual signal. Maybe that's what Ralph is saying? Problem is I am just not hearing it. Ignorance is bliss I suppose. After all I may be just another poor misguided fool. :^(

I suppose I may have to turn in my audiophile credentials perhaps with the mindset that that which I do not hear can't hurt me. Fear of what we might be missing would seem to go with the turf.

Ralph, thanks for the explanation, which makes sense to me. Certainly, at least, to the extent of being a general tendency, that usually/more often than not differentiates tube and solid state designs.

I think that some of those who have responded may be losing sight of the fact that distortion does not occur when there is no signal to be distorted. In the case of a design that utilizes relatively large amounts of feedback, when Ralph refers to "the noise floor becoming that of harmonic and inharmonic low level distortions," that "noise floor" will not be heard when no signal is present, even if one's ear is placed against the speaker. Yet when signal is present, Ralph's point that it can mask low level detail to a greater degree than a small amount of hiss can mask low level detail (even if the hiss is great enough to be audible) certainly seems to me to be plausible.

Best regards,
-- Al

Al,
True and this is why Ralph's explanation struck a chord with me. The irony is that although tube amplifiers in some cases have more "audible" noise, once the music plays you hear 'more' musical nuance and low level information than with the 'quieter' amplifier. On the surface this seems counterintuitive yet it's the reality I've heard.
Charles,

Hi Mapman - if I may, Frogman's post of 10-22 explains quite well what professional musicians are missing when they listen to systems that do not have low level detail. It may be a very quiet system, but there is still information missing - some of the baby is being thrown out with the bath water. Most musicians would rather put up with some surface noise such as hiss but also be able to hear this low level detail - we work very hard at such things as Frogman is describing, and it is disappointing not to hear them reproduced. If you would like more explanation after re-reading, I'm sure he or I would be happy to try to elaborate some more.