Is solid state on the brink of extinction?

Yeah... antiquated amps???Some food for thought! Somehow, I rather doubt Khrys would trade his Jadis's for "any" digital amps at this juncture. To be candid: I have never heard the Acoustic Reality. I have listened to a few high-end digital amps[no name dropping from me] in a few of the high end shops in my area. None of them grabbed me and said " take me home".I know one thing for certain, The Jadis's will make for an incredible musical experience, "magic" in spades when driving just about any decent modern speaker .Jadis amplification is world class by anybody's measure.That said: I don't believe for a second... that his Jadis's would, or could make that same kind of magic driving scintillas.I have heard the Scintillas on numerous[read too many] occasions with amplification that was just not up to the task.Can't say they ever came close to capturing me ,at least not until that one "magical" evening,when driven by FM Acoustics gear and accompanied by a top shelf phono stage.I would defy "anybody" that is into the recorded arts.....[don't care what you own] to walk away without thinking how great the recorded arts can actually be reproduced in our own rooms. After reading about Khrys's front end,there little doubt in my mind that he gets a lot more than his fair share of goosebumps .Tuning the room and optimizing the equipment in that given room is the "real" art! It really doesn't matter whether its solid state,digital, vacuum tubes[set,OTL,push pull or otherwise], horns, Electrostatics, ,dipoles,vinyl,tape,cd or what have you! I have heard, all of the above sound very very good,however.. I have also heard all of the above sound so horrible they would chase the tone deaf right out of the room! Funny though, how some of these antiquities can command so much more money than the [latest and greatest] current technology when given a year or two in the free market. Ever wonder why? Life is short and we are all destined to become an antique one day! Enjoy the times. Cheers! David

To my thought I realy always wondered why SET that can be built by high school student may cost more than powerfull SS beast that could drive near anything even including professional studio speakers and not realy do-able by hobbyist?
Full range digital amps are even more complicated than conventional solid state amplifiers. It's much less complicated to build digital bass amp than full range.

Marakanetz...Digital amps are not all that complicated, in fact all audio amplifier circuitry is rather simple compared with other types of electronics. In practice, all the complexity of the digital amp is in one module that you buy from TriPath or someone else. Add a power supply and FET output devices and you have an amp. That is the great promise of digital technology..superb performance at GREATLY REDUCED COST.

Eldartford, you are right. The simplicity and quality afforded by evolving modules ensures cheap thrills. Where were you, when you listened to the well appointed Scintilla? I know that reviewer Ken Kessler, in England, has a pair opitimally set up.

You are also right about the goose bump factor attainable through many avenues. Last week, I listened to Vandersteen 5 speakers fronted by top vinyl and tube gear, and it was very fine. That was a $70,000 system.

I went home to my digital module driven speakers and listened to even better transparency, and bass definition - for far, far less. (I want that turn table gear, though) :-D

Muralman, your boundless enthusiasm for your amps has me wanting ot explore Class D further. What I've heard in stores has not impressed me so I'm trying to set up some home auditions. I can get my hands on a Spectron Musician II but where do I find the eARs? Is it true they are only sold "factory-direct"?