Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

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

I have tubes in my pre-amp (BAT) and solid state amp (Marsh). However, I am a big advocate of pure solid state sound. Good solid state equipment these days does not have the drawbacks traditionally associated with solid state (ie. harsh sound). You get a much more accurate reproduction of the source with all of its glories and limitations. Tube amps are in my mind either "over-engineered" or colored. The colorings in my case detract from musical enjoyment. I find it curious that many tube proponents would rather die than hear to the colored sound of certain mass equipment, yet they are themselves coloring their music, though in a very different way. I do not believe everything is a matter of taste: educating and developing your taste are what it;s all about, whether it be in music, audio, wine, art, or whatever. Underlying this, I believe, is a quest for truth. In this case truth is quite easily defined as getting as closely as possible to the recorded source. I believe the good solid sytate amps of today, with prices starting at around $1,500, accomplish that better than any tube amp.

hey joe, where ya going w/that toob preamp in yer hand? ;~) i can't afford a solid-state preamp that sounds as good as a lower-cost toob-unit! i tink ya gotta spend at least 6k for a solid-state unit to avoid the "drawbacks" that less-expensive tube pre's avoid, even if tubes have their colourations. what preamp are ewe considering replacing yer bat with? doug