From tubes to solid state

I think my decision to move from tubes to SS is largely related to my many years as choral singer and wind player. Good tube systems impart a lush sort of euphonious distortion that can result in very pleasant and listenable music. Despite that enjoyable, even seductive sound, I always had the realization that what I was hearing wasn't quite true to the music-making experience as I knew it from endless hours in the pit and in the choir gallery. My sense when listening to many tube systems was that they somehow filed the rough edges off the music, recalling the burnished glow of memory rather than the more realistic, if less euphonious, recreation of the actual experience. What I mean is that when I listen to a good tube system playing, say, a Mozart mass, I think, "Oh, yes, this is what I want to think that it sounded like. When I listen to the same work through a good SS system, I think, "Oh, yes, this what it REALLY sounded like."

This desire for a precise, analytical, unvarnished reproduction of the program content has guided my selection of speakers, sources, everything. And it has taken me away from tubes.

Only my opinion, one among many. As Fletchj rightly notes above, the only thing that really matters is the enjoyment your system brings you.

Happy listening!

will

Bishopwill's post supports the proposition that a tube amp acts like an equalizer with gain instead of a pure gain stage. If the transfer function of the tube amp is determined then it should be posible to design a solid state implementation which will yield the same results.

Yes, in theory that is the case, though I would not want to move in that direction. However, for persons who desire the "cream and air" of tubes (as someone noted above) but don't want the hassle of tube replacements and biasing and heat, it might be a desirable option. And, in fact, given the current fondness for tubes, one often sees SS gear advertised as producing "tube-like" sound.

will

Interesting, Bishopwill. I've had just the opposite experience, with music (especially classical instrumental) seeming more real through good tube gear. Granted, some tube equipment can be euphonic and "slow", but other units can be very detailed, transparent, and more correct regarding tone/timbre to my ears than most solid state (one exception: the lower bass). Nevertheless I keep searching through SS gear in hopes of finding something (mainly amp) that will satisfy my ears, since tube gear is a bit of a hassle, and those nice NOS tubes will eventually run out!