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
Actually, digital is generally more compressed than vinyl. The technical advantages of digital are theoretical only these days. Take a gander at the Official Dynamic Range Database sometime. Even hi res downloads are compressed. Read em and weep. 😢
@tubessuck:

Oh, yeah.  Forgot about the people MAKING the music, I guess:

https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/guitar-essentials-five-things-you-should-know-about-tubes

Not that THEY are important--only the musicians, after all. What the heck do THEY know, anyway? A.
I approached that Dynamic Range Database with an open mind and lots of interest. I came away with understanding that either dynamic range is not reliably coinciding with my perception of pleasant recording, or that Dynamic Range Database is, in reality, a random number generator. Basically, I found it useless for all practical purposes although I do not deny its appeal to number-crunching theoreticists.

As a minor error in previous post, google search digs out Unofficial Dynamic Range Database. Although an "official" one would imply seriousness and provide for convenient halt of all further questioning of the results, whoever put it there was fair enough not to proclaim her/himself as an official authority.
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/guitar-essentials-five-things-you-should-know-about-tubes

This is really informative for a novice guitar player who has barely heard of tubes and wants to influence the sound in some way. After reading it, the question remains if same intentional changes in the sound could be produced by simply turning a knob of some non-tube device. I would guess they could, but I am not sure.