Dear @orpheus10 : ""
I borrowed a high end ARC SS preamp for audition, and me and my audiophile friend listened for only a few minutes before we decided to return i ...""
Seems to me that you don't read what I posted to you:
" In the other side normally when a gentleman accustomed to years of tubes designs makes a comparison with SS units he is waiting that what he will listening it comes with similar colorations that tubes he is accustom to and this is the trouble for him because SS just can't sounds/performs like tube in almost any way, SS is faithful to the recording adding the less and losting the less when tubes are the other way around. "
But your experiencewith SS gone further when you say: " a few minutes ".
I can't understand what you and your friends were waiting/expected to listen after " minutes " when all where accustomed to tubes for YEARS?.
Your mind/brain does not " permit " other kind of sound but the one developed by tube electronics.
Your experience means almost nothing and useless.
MUSIC is not sweet or or heavy colored, gentle, and the like. MUSIC is agresive, brigthness, powerful, with natural colorations, fully dunamic, great rythm, up-front, full emotive, etc, etc.
You and your friendsd need to have several experiences to listen live MUSIC seated at nearfield position like recording microphones and then you will understand why tube experiences are so wrong and SS is truer to the recording.
Please tell us how many minutes or hours can you listen a horn player playing at real SPL seated at say 3m.?
Your ears can't " resist " a half a hour with out severe permanent damage when a recording microphones can take signal over 120db SPL for hours.
I think that you and @johnss need that kind of near field live MUSIC experiences before what both posted.
We are talking of different " things ". I'm talking about stay truer to the recording and you are talking of the love you have for those heavy colorations/distortions tubes generates and that the result is that are far away from the recording. Yes I know that that is what you like but your targets are way different from mine.
With out those near field experinces you can't understand what I posted here. Do it, is a learning lesson and helps any one to really appreciate his room/system experience.
R.