With the history in time of the two types of amplifiers, there is not only a psychological explanation of how we see it, due to that we may at first think that newer inventions are necessarily better, just because it's newer and built from the previous knowledge up. But there is also a generation gap and conflict, and then there is the power of marketing, which is same as brainwashing actually.
The tubes got put aside after a few years of transistor commercialization and marketing, and were going to be forgotten if it weren't for our most fanatical and extremely perfectionist audiophile friends from Japan. They thought there was something with the sound of tubes that SS couldn't achieve, and they started reviving it. And they were the main producers of transistor amps at the time!!
I am a user of both types of these beloved tools. I tend to favor transistors because tubes tend to lack power generally speaking, and are inconvenient to use.
I am a science guy, but I am sound enough to know that science and measurements are not ultimate in explaining why I prefer this thing over this other one.
So ultimately, the truth of the pudding is in the eating, isn't it always so? Your mouth and taste buds tell you so, period.
Why can't this be the same for amps? It's not the distortion or any other measurements that will tell you that you prefer this one or the other, it's your ears, very simply and very truly. Just listen to proper transistor and then proper tube, and don't let your self conditioning work for your ears. Music is supposed to talk to your emotions if not higher to your soul!!
I have more transistor amps than tube ones, and one transistor I have is really very expensive stuff, which I use daily. But, to date, I still have to hear a transistor amp that beats a well built and implemented GM70 or 300B or 211 or 845 or... SET amp. It touches your heart with lifelike vibrations which a good transistor can do as well, but to a lesser extent.
A musician plays a partition perfectly as per the writing, another one plays the same one... and you get touched differently. Now you may like both too!!
Our ears are the final, ultimate and only judge.
Who cares which amplifier type is doing it?? unless you are an adept of something else that's guiding your mind..
