Is solid state on the brink of extinction?


I am curious how many out there, like me, that have come to the conclusion the age of solid state, and perhaps tube gear, is closing.

In freeing needed cash from my high end audio recently, I was forced to look for a less expensive alternative. To my surprise, the alternative turned out to be an unexpected bonus.

I have notoriously inefficient speakers. I was sure I would have to sell them once I sold off my large solid state blocks.

Going on a tip from another amp killer speaker owner, I bought an Acoustic Reality eAR 2 MKII Class D amp. This tiny amp caused a revolution in sound benefits over my ss mono blocks.

My speakers gained in speed, depth, control, detail, range, clarity, and dynamics.

It didn't stop there. I also sold my front end, and bought a very cheap programmable digital DVD. It also proved to be better that my old disc player. My playback gained in detail, separation, depth, bass control, bass extension, and treble extension. The mids are just plain natural. Reverberation decay occurs evenly and naturally.

Has anyone else had a similar experience of moving from solid state or tubes to digital? What do you see as the future for solid state component producers? What of tube amps?
muralman1
I doubt it Muralman, at least not in my direct comparisons. I have done an AB with my current amp and the Spectron, it wasn't even close in any parameter in my system. In another system or with your Class D amp the outcome may have been different but that remains to be determined which I plan on doing soon. System matching, again is the most important element in each of us realizing the goal of the absolute sound or what we expect or hope our systems to do towards our enjoyment of music. I think what you found in your system were two products that improved your system. One thing in this hobby I have found to be true is that improvements often come from unexpected sources.
I agree with Tubegroover. I had the Spectron Musician II power amp and it was a very clear sounding amp. Clearer than my Pass Labs X-250 in my system but I did not really connect with the music. In fact my Kinergetics KBA-75 was more musical. The Pass had more texture to the notes and voices than the Digi amp just did not have. Again this was in my system at the time. Also at 500 woc it did not sound any louder than the Pass at 250 wpc. Does this mean the Spectron was bad, no way, maybe with a different source, preamp and speakers it would have made for a fantastic system. I have since upgraded speakers and source and the system synergy changed 100% so I am back at looking differnt componets to reach its full potential.

Happy Listening.
I havent heard the Acoustic Reality so I really cant comment, but I have heard Pass Labs, and ohhh what a fine sounding amp. You never know, eAR's may be a giant killers. Guys with smallish budgets, like me, hope for this kind of stuff.

Seriously though, a $129.00 Liteon DVD player was better than the JD-100? Whats next? A $179.00 Apex multi-format whoops the Meitner DAC Six? Well I'm game, those certainly fit my budget better, but I have to say, I seriously doubt it.

Happy Turkey Day all.
Im with Slappy. Can someone explain what are and how many manufacturers are producing Digital Amps ?
Muralman1, your Acoustic Reality amp is solid state! Solid state essentially means that the circuits utilize transistors rather than vacuum tubes. Truly digital amplifiers, not those with just a digitally regulated power supply, amplify the audio signal in the digital domain. They generally have complex semiconductor chips (containing lots of tiny transistors) that save space and are more energy efficient in comparison to using a circuit board with discrete electronic components amplfying in the analog domain.

To this point, I believe that the major benefits of digital amplifiers are for the manufacturers, not the audiophile. Digital amps make sense for computers and products that must be physically small. When used with more traditional audio components with analog outputs, their use requires unnecessary steps of digital to analog and analog to digital conversion.