Tube Equipment: Gimmick?

The fact is this.

Ive heard good tube setups. And i enjoyed them very much.

I still like solid state better.

That does not make me wrong, but what IS a rather pompous and arrogant statement is to say that "tubes sound better than solid state gear" and to boast that as a fact.

Tube gear suffers horribly from distortion. It is a pleasing distortion and can be a rather beneficial distortion, but im pretty sure that when Alicia Keys was playing the piano, that the piano did not send out a 2nd order harmonic distortion.

Distortion is distortion.

It does not take a genious to realize that if you look at the wave entering the Tube amp, and the wave LEAVING the tube amp, that the wave IS altered, and THUS, NOT the origional sound of the recording.

Solid state is more accurate, this is a proven fact. SS does not need any pixies and fairy dust to explain this fact, it does however have mathematical proof and the tests show it as well.

When Diana Krall is in yer living room singing, she is not introducing any 2nd order harmonic distortion either.

the tube amp does. Plain, simple, fact. Distortion is distortion folks.

Now im not bashing tubes, i think they sound great, and one day i will probably have a set of tube monoblocks just so i can mix things up from time to time.

Buying all this gear is about listening to music on your own terms. Some are purists who want perfect linear responce and frown on tone controls, some want to have the ability to change various aspects of the music to suit to thier tastes as well.

To me, to MY ears, Solid State Amplifiers sound great. Sure, there are some that suck, just like there are some tubes that suck, but im talking about MY enjoyment. My preference.
I prefer solid state. plain, simple, and i am correct. Tubes just dont really do it for me. I like the accuracy of solid state.

To state that preference has nothing to do about it, that it is all experience, well, maybe you need some more experience of your own. Such a definitive statement is about as idiodic as they get.

If you prefer Tubes and thier Distortion, then that is fine with me. Sit back, have your favorite drink, relax, and listen to YOUR music on YOUR terms and have fun.

I will be at home, doing the same, listening to my music on MY terms and enjoying it every bit as much as you.

And i can listen to solid state indefinatly and i dont get irratated by it. Maybe if solid state hurts your ears that much, you should consult a physician and see about making sure your ears are not going the way of the dodo.

Just dont sit there with a holier-than-thou attitude and tell me that my taste and my preference is wrong. Because when you say that, then I am right, and YOU are wrong.

Jax2,

"' annoying and refreshing " is exactly what I wanted to say. Annoying because sarcasm is in fact " annoying " Refreshing because I to have a bit of sarcasm in me, and I have found that people with a bit of sarcasm have spunk. I like people with spunk!! I don't however consider myself to be a person " in a gray flannel suit " quite the opposite. My life never has a dull moment!!! I have no doubt Jax2, that even though I find your language offensive ( and I don't drink beer, but I don't mind if you do ) your sarcasm is accompanied by humor as well. Yes I have no doubt, face-to-face I could call you friend.

I will not ( and do not avoid anyone's ) your posts. I prefer to respect all people's opinions, but I reserve the right to tell them my opinion about how they offended me.

Slappy, I will take your comments about my elevating ME over everyone else. I WILL do some SELF-reflection at the very heart. However!!! as the saying goes: "" It takes one, to know one " I hope your not squirming in your chair to much :)

keep it coming ( umm the posts, not the profanity ) Jax2. I enjoy your thoughts!!!

SS is a gray flannel suit!!!

KT-88,

Your definitive statements of tubes over SS are rather dumb.
Your inability to grasp the concept that people might not like the same things you like and that it is ok, rather disturbs me.
Your notion that your beliefs are the end-all-be-all of fact blows my mind.

In fact, you have demonstrated almost every aspect of a person that that causes me to not want to want to get to know them.

Yet, somehow, i feel that yer an ok person, and i would probably get along with you in person just fine.

you are a strange person.

But I think you might be sitting a little too close to your tubes. :)

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Kt88 - Yes, I took it that way......I really was amused by it, I was not making fun of you for having made the comment...I really thought it was a very funny oxymoron. I end every post with my name, Marco, and you are welcome to use it rather than call me "jax2". FYI I like an occasional beer, but am far more partial to red wine. I think Slappy's comment was made in a spirit of comradery (I don't work on cars much either, but do all my own work on my motorcycles...I can usually figure out cars, but prefer two wheels to four). I also prefer tubes, but have heard some pretty amazing SS systems that have their own merits, I just prefer those that tubes offer better and have not heard any SS gear that sounds that way. Slappy, I don't know about curves and 2nd order harmonic distortion (I do know what they are, but I don't care much beyond that), but I do know what I like to hear. I never really gave a rat's-a.....oh god, there I go again...must be Terrets Syndrome.....I simply don't care what the numbers, graphs and bars say...my ears keep drawing me back to tubes. If I listened to more intensely dynamic music I may be swayed to the SS side, but it is pretty rare that I my listening leans in that direction. Was that better Kt88? The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. Tubes rule! Everyone should like tubes best! That's it, simple and to the point. Polite and succinct. Everyone oughta' like me now. Don't rock the boat. Tubes are the best thing that ever happened to the the high end! Many people say so, and so do I. If you don't like it well then Screw...er, well you can just go jump in a lake. Fuckin'A Bubba! Damn straight.....oh hell, I'm hopeless! Cat piss, dung heap, fart, poop. You gotta love the tubes man! I got tubes. If God has a high-end system, you know it's gotta be tubes all the way! If Jesus were to come back for that second coming, the first thing he'd do would be to get himself a tube-based system. Buddha too, in fact I know Buddha was talking about going from push/pull to SET a few years back. I think his system is up on AudioAsylum but he may not have had time to update it. I wouldn't let my dog listen to an SS system! Once I brought an SS system into the house just to try it out and my dog ran away...couldn't find her for four days. The bitch had packed her bowls and moved on down to the tube room in the high-end shop down on Roosevelt. Told me she wouldn't come back till I got rid of that SS boat anchor! Those dogs can hear things we humans can't even dream about hearing. I don't know about you folks, but I'd sure like to hear some more polarizing views on the subject......Brussel sprouts anyone?

Marco