Why do we want to distortions?

Thanks atmasphere for clarification about IM.

I agree with you that either very much feedback to clean up high order distortions or less than perhaps 10dB or so. There are different types of feedback and I’m referring to traditional "loop" feedback. Degeneration is a bit different. But I think error correction is much better if that is possible in the design. What is your opinion about that?

 Tubes do add bloom

Tube amplifiers sound different than solid state but are much more particular with speakers than solid state so if you want the tube amp experience to be as good or better than solid state you need a pre 1965 speaker to play on it.
 Repo

OMG really?  Maybe the ones you owned or heard but not always true.

Some months ago I listened on wonderful tube amp sound from Engstrom Arne (Swedish highend) as maybe one of my most memorable listening experiences with tube amps. The new Marten Parker speakers where used. But I still think you are right. Tube amps in general should work much better with speakers at my age... or older as speaker impedance can be very low these days.

+1 bigkids

I have heard at least three different model speakers on a Duelund cap upgraded PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium HP (which incidentally was much higher resolving than stock), and they all sounded pretty remarkable to me.
These were all new only a few years ago.

There are some newer US made valve amplifiers I'd like to audition, when I'm ready to sell a limb or win lotto.

@atmasphere - thanks for the write up, very informative. Particularly the later developments with class D amps. I have owned just one class D and I've heard a few in my time, just nothing that was really really good sounding. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just saying that I haven't been introduced to a class D that sounded as good as many of the solid state A, AB and valve amplifiers I have been able to listen to over an extended period of time. I am open to discovery, and I am eager to discover things have gotten better with class D.

Some of the best class D under $10k and under $5k that you have heard please? (I'm not likely to be in the market for a $25k amplifier, unless something drastically changes in my finances)

I have owned a hypex based class D amplifier from Nord Acoustics in UK. I think Nord’s amplifiers gives very good performance for the money. They now have versions using the newer Purify modules. You can specify OP-amp for the input stage. An example is the Nord Three SE 1ET400A MKII Dual Mono Stereo Amp for £1649 including Sparkos OP-amps.

"Nord Acoustics based in Cheltenham UK, design and hand-build world-class Class D Amplifiers that are changing Audiophile’s perceptions about Class D Amps. We take the very best designs from around the world and integrate them into our finished products."