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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
mckinneymike
89 posts
 
Tubes were a step along the way to where we are today, which is not tubes to any meaningful extent worth mentioning anywhere but circular threads on "audiophile" forums. There was no sign of tubes on today's Apple conference and Bose does not seem to use them either.

Thank God Apple and Bose are not responsible for what hi-fi is or will become.  Even the Millenials are discovering vinyl in huge numbers along with valves.  Mid-Fi is what is not happening anymore.

  Apple is a marketing company, not a hifi company.  Their guiding and driving force is now gone. Bose......I forgot they even existed to be honest.


atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,803 posts
 
40-year-olds have no idea, save for a few cool ones, what tubes are.
I know a heap of 20 year olds that know what tubes are. Anyone that plays a guitar does...
The music industry dwarfs the high end industry. 
Thank God Apple and Bose are not responsible for what hi-fi is or will become.
+1


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Apparently glupson’s humor is a little too subtle for prime time.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Bose......I forgot they even existed to be honest."
Well, many people have not. Check their sales figures, if you can. Compare them with tube equipment. I would guess you are not aware of reality these days. If you discount them as a significant company in music reproduction, it would be hard to explain it.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"I know a heap of 20 year olds that know what tubes are."
You may know them all then. Do not let that fool you into believing it is how things are in general.

To paraphrase mckinneymike… don't become a simple mind that only sees what it wants to see.

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