A tubes vs. Solid State question.

Tubes I liked, because they are more forgiving, less synergy problems overall, and always a nice touch to any system. And they are the most Tweakable so this gives options to the user, in regards to tube rolling, normally easy to change out capacitors, and power conditioning etc..., they are just a tad more sensitive to change and can reward or tell you no this is not working faster than solid state. However I have gone the way of the darkside and found for my end need that Solid state is superior all around. This would probably not be true 10 years ago, with the inferior digital and other solid state equipment, but with the much, MUCH better Engineered Recordings Today from about the year 2000' on up and Gear that has Closed that gap between the Tube and solid state with making some very musical and emotional pieces its very tuff. It will take some matching still with SS' no doubt so not every combination is perfect, but you got to many choices to get there, basically I guess the still safe bet in the middle of the road is to get a Tube pre-amp in between and you find some of the magic if it is still needed. But as for tube amps, to much money to run and too many power tubes to get the kinds of power I need to have that bottom end and super smooth scale I like to hear.

The subject of this thread can be modified a bit into: solid state and single ended, low powered tube amplification. Some audiophiles, including very venerable ones from Japan (Sakuma, Kondo, Shindo) are preaching that the way of listening to music is through single ended amplification and high efficiency transducers (horns or single full range driver designs). This is also the most simple set up with the less number of passive and active components. To these people reproduced music should sound alive and engaging and devoid of "electro-mechanic" sound. It is also notable that one of the most musical sounding solid state amps, the 47-Labs Gain card is based on this minimalistic philosophy. This amp can be considered to be a solid state substitute for a tube amp.

Dazzdax, I agree, I always found the higher quality powered solid state with high efficiency speakers the superior way to go.

Maybe one aspect of tube gear that I hadn't considered is the possibility of tube rolling. It seems that the sound can be tailored to the coloration the listener prefers. I guess even tube lovers cannot agree on tubes!?!

FWIW I have had an integrated tube amp for about six months now. I must not be a real tube guy since I only replaced my 6550s with Electro Harmonix KT 88s and then left the setup alone. : )

It is funny that there such extremes of opinions. My first high end system and several systems after that were all solid state. I appreciate the characteristics of both SS and tubes as there are benefits and strengths of each. I presently own a tube integrated and love it however, if I heard something solid state that blew me away, I would purchase it.. Glad you are enjoying your system more as that is what it is all about to me.. The music.

Chris