Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

Elizabeth I would agree that a tube amplifier is higher maintenance and can get pricey when replacing tubes but a tube pre-amp is another matter. The tubes will last for a very long time, even when left on providing you go with the right design. I have owned 5 different tube pre-amplifiers over the last 15 years with VERY minimal problems. Yes I have had to replace caps but that is to be expected over a period of time. I suggest you listen to a good tube pre-amp (ARC are very reliable and well engineered)before you go out and buy an Adcom 750. A tube pre-amp is MUCH more like music. Try before you buy and then decide. Good solid state pre-amps cost bucks. The cheaper designs don't fare as well against their less expensive tube counterparts IMO.

Elizabeth - You are far from the only one that has had problems with Counterpoint electronics. To me they were one of the greatest sounding products available in the 80's and early 90's but they also had a notorious reputation for self destructing. Example of a design taken to the extreme limits and beyond. Don't use the Counterpoint as your only frame of reference in tube designs. They are one of the worst examples,(early Jadis also comes to mind). Conrad Johnson in addition to ARC is another well designed product. I had a PV-7 preamp where the tubes lasted over 4 years and were still going strong until I sold the unit along with a complete NOS tube set that I never needed. It is sad that many people don't try tubes because of a bad experience or what they have heard.

Tubes are like a car I once owned. Before Ford involvement, Jaguar ownership was very much a love/hate relationship. Transistors are like a car I now own. The performance of my 13 year old Porsche is exciting in a different way. But it is very much more reliable. And I don't even have to carry a spare fuel pump with me.

Tubegroover is right on every count. As far as which is better, I prefer tubes. I cannot say that solid state couldn't make me or another person happy. But, I do know there is a certain rightness to me with tubes that doesn't come along very often with solid state. Some people accept NO substitute for tubes. The best analogy along those lines I have heard a person put it is tubes are like having a dog. Yeah, they mess on the floor, need to be walked, fed, etc. But, they are a real, living thing. Solid state is like a stuffed dog. No maintenance, but nothing else(feedback, reciprocation, realness, etc.) either.

tubes may *not* be as reliable as solid-state - so what? that's why i won't sell my electrocompaniet ec-1a solid-state preamp - a very nice piece in its own right, it can be used if/when the melos music director is getting fixed! (like now!) :>) i can't imagine *any* solid-state preamp coming anywhere near the sonics of this piece, at anywhere near the price ($1800, used). definitely worth the trouble. doug