Is solid state on the brink of extinction?

I can't speak to the eAR 2, but my stock "digitally-enhanced/controlled" HCA-2 (with skookum power cord) is far more detailed, emotionally involving, natural-sounding, and MUSICAL than any conventional tubed or ss amp I've heard. (Well.. the Bryston 3B SST was fairly decent also!)

The HCA makes music - listening fatigue is non-existent. I'm staying up far too late into the night these days, cuz I can't shut the damn thing off. Those who claim these amps have no "soul" could not possibly have heard them critically in decent systems. I think the "old school" is biased against the term "digital" - perhaps a better term would be "the new analog".

Played Patricia Barber the other day and was amazed at the reproduction of bass lines: superb resolution and vibrancy, the oft-vaunted "truth of timbre" in spades.

If these amps can sound this truthful and involving this early in the game, just imagine the results when this technology matures...

My final comment is that the best is only relative to what we each have heard in a given system. Excitement over a new design/technology, could well be superceded by current technology. Muralman, <1 ohm Apogee Scintillas may be best matched with the digital amp in question and in your system. But what you have done here based on your speakers which admittedly are probably the MOST difficult in the history of this hobby to drive, have asked a question that maybe in your situation may be the best solution but certainly not in many others. The title of your thread seems more an excitement of finding something that works much better than your Pass amp in your system but might sound like sh** in another. I don't mean to come across as sounding crass but as I stated in my first post, synergy is MUCH more important in realizing what each of us is attempting to achieve in realizing long term listening pleasure from our individual systems.

I have heard a few digital amps, none have impressed me thus far. Detail, dynamics are only part of the equation, musical involvement LONG TERM, "I can't wait to hear my favorite music tonight" is. I am no pessimist, but more a realist. Maybe digital has its advantages in a given system but my guess is that on an absolute level, current technology (SS and tubes) at their best would be preferable in more systems. Of course digital may eventually turn out to be the turning point in getting us closer to reality but to date I doubt very much if it has "arrived", time will tell.

Slappy, I guess you're just pretending not knowing about digital amps.

Class "D" is pulse operated amplifier. Pulse generator with pulse freequency F is usually placed before the output stage that is nothing else as transistors connected as complementary pairs like in class "B" operation i.e. the amplifier is actually solid state. This dictates high efficiency of the output stage, less demand on quality of the output devices, less sophisticated power supplies(theoretically no clipping!)

The downsides are:
very high distortions at low volume levels; some of the models are highly affected with radio freequencies.

Marakanetz, I have heard those criticisms before concerning some digital modular designs. The field is in it's infancy, and will grow unevenly.

Tubegroover, I understand. My eAR has not been around much. On some Martin logans, it was matched against Sonic Fidelity. The eAR equaled the SF in musicality and involvement, but went further in uncovering the real thing, and expressing bass passages.

I think you might be on to something about my speaker's synergy with the eAR. The Scinnies are notorious amp benders. The eAR seems to ignore impedances. Although it was a revelation on my system, the SF/Martin Logan are quite enjoyable.

That same ML owner went tubes, after I demonstrated valves on his solid state system. I really thing tube components are going to survive.

Thsalmon,
I think when Muralman1 is referring to digital vs solid state, he’s referring to “digital switching” amps compared to linear SS amps. You’re correct to point out that not all “digital” amps can accept a digital input signal, and that switching amps can employ either an analog or digital modulation control method. However, the key thing that they all have in common is that in the power conversion stage, the output devices in a digital switching amplifier operates in either an “on” or “off” state, and it is thus “digital” by definition. It is this function that gives switching amps their superior efficiency compared to linear amps.

Muralman1,
I’m glad to see that you’re enjoying the eAR amp, especially since I’m one of the guys that recommended that you try it. To answer your question, no I don’t think conventional linear SS amps will be doomed to extinction, at least not quite. Audiophiles are a diverse bunch of highly passionate and idiosyncratic people – and I say this in the best possible way since I’m included in this description :) - who know what they like, plus we tend to be fiercely individualistic in our tastes, and we do not necessarily follow the mainstream. For the same reason that tube gear continues to flourish in audiophile circles, SS will remain as long as there is a market for people with a taste for it. Having said that, I think it’s inevitable that digital amplifiers will do to linear amps what the transistor did to the vacuum tube. I say this because IMHO, the most impressive achievement of digital switching technology to date is that it has demonstrated how true high-end performance can be delivered, even at the technology’s infancy, at a heretofore unheard of price point. Furthermore, as you and I have discovered, when it is put into a no-compromise design, the outcome can be magical.

But back to my original point, it’s clear that once you’re able to put an amplifier on a chip, and thus replace hundreds of discrete components with a single inexpensive part, the market will inexorably move to adopt it, especially in the mainstream. However, in the high-end market things are different because here it is viable to survive with low volumes and high margins, for as long as there are still people that want to buy it.