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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
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Did they give a bus driver uniform to wear?
maritime51's avatar
maritime51
1,288 posts
 
Ha, ha. 🖕🏻Nah, they just threw money at us. 💰
boxer12
8,656 posts
 
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
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
I remember hearing and owning both an ARC VT200 amp and a Krell FPB600 amp. Preamps were ARC REF3 and Krell KCT.  Both combos were virtually identical...the Krell had more grunt but otherwise very tube like!
glupson
7,842 posts
 
Tubes get inconveniently hot, but main factor in their renaissance is that they are perceived as being cool.
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