Solid State vs. Tubes - What if Transistors came first?


What do you guys think?

If transistors came first, and then decades later tubes were invented, would we have any tube amps we would call high end?

Wouldn’t they all fail to reach the height of performance and transparency set by transistor amps?

Best,

E

P.S. I love Conrad Johnson. I'm just wondering how  much of our arguments have to do with timing. 
erik_squires
Sorry, pal, you’re wrong. I was on the ARINC team that decided who won the $2 billion contract for the new radios. That was 1989. They went with US Air Force radios. I’m talking about the radios at all the centers. Try to pay attention.
mckinneymike, "I still have yet to find a modern SS/Digital amplification device that I would retire my valves for, but I will always remain open to anything that sounds better to my ears"

If you get a chance to hear the Valvet mono blocks it may change your mind. I was running tube amps since the early 90's & tried these out. They are really good single ended solid state amps. I've been using them for about a year now. Only 12 watts at 8 ohms (18 watts at 4 ohms) though so you need relatively high efficient speakers