Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

Three things affect the sound quality you hear. First is the hardware and the differences between many offerings is very difficult to identify. Second is the music itself, and the quality of recordings varies greatly. Third is the listening environment: the acoustic properties of the listening room. Without adequate attention to all three matters, there will be no real audiophile satisfaction. Each element by itself simply cannot do what is asked.

Tubes. Listen to Conrad Johnson

It is like a choice of steel,different applications require different types.But what is even more important is that what this particular designer is used to work with.I would not buy tube amplifier from,say,Jeff Rowland,nor would I want solid state from Jadis.Besides,tube amplifier of comparable quality and power should be more expansive(at least twice or so).Ideally,I would have two separate systems.Still,at their best,tubes are probably closer to the reality.

Interesting question. Transistors are very revealing and often sound harsh and non musical in my experience. Even if you can't hear it directly, there's something irritating and unnatural in the transistor sound a lot of the time. On the other hand tubes sound nice and musical but they soften the music and put in colouration. After trying a lot of transistor and tube gear I now how a Pass Aleph L preamp and a Pass Aleph 3 power amp. They combine the simpicity of tube design with the benefits of transistors, e.g. accuracy, dynamics. The sound is fantastic, no harshness at all but tons of detail and best of all you can feel the emotional content of the music is left intact. Try a Pass Aleph combination and get the best of both worlds. Good luck.

I had to make this decision recently as well. I listened to about a dozen tube and solid state amplifiers in my price range. I gradually realized that with the exception of the mccormack amp, I kept remembering the tube amplifiers as sounding good. They do sound different. The tubes will have a more musical sound, but solid state is (maybe ) more detailed, but definitely stronger in the bass. You might want to consider the type of music that you listen to. If you like rock and modern pop like metallica, madonna, G&R (am I dating my college years or what?), you might want to go with solid state. If you are into vocals, jazz, sparse instrumentals, you might be happier with tubes.