Tubes? Transistors? Which are better?

hey, leafs, i finally got to hear my brother-in-law's res-audio cd-50 yesterday, & it *is* excellent - but that's when run thru his a-r ls-16 tube preamp. he said he can't listen to it run straight into his amp for more than a half-hour, cuz then the sound is way too etched, harsh & grainy. his a-r 100.2 amp, while solid-state, has a *like tubes* characteristic. interesting to me, tho, was listening to the buena-vista social club on his cd set-up. while it was wery nice, i much preferred my vinyl copy on my turntable. les depth, on the cd, and, surprising to me, also less detail... doug

Yes i did post on the Rogue

Another issue which is underplayed is maintenance. Tube amps require a lot more know-how. For example, I only recently found out (the hard way), that you need to always have speakers hooked up to your tube amp. It is a hobby, albeit one with an excellent return (great sound).

It's a matter of personal taste but that even order distortion makes me smile every time.

Tubes have so much more soul, right