Why is solid state more popular when tubes are better?

@carlsbad2 wrote:

@emergingsoul Looks like you hurt the feelings of some sensitive sold state guys. They arn’t ok with your prefernce for tube amps.

Oh well.

Jerry

Oh, it’s not really about preference. It would seem there are even some valve aficionados out there troubled by the absolutist stance of the OP, which is the crux of the matter, right? But I guess to some valve lovers seeing it being made into an objective fact that valves rule helps boosting their egos, or something.

Even still, why are so many riled up about the statement made by the OP? Is he an über-authority, a deity? It’s just words, a stance likely meant to provoke. Whatever floats your boat in whatever setup context. I’ve heard great of both valve-based and SS amps; the former (i.e.: SET’s) in particular through passively configured high efficiency speakers, the latter on actively configured dittos.

It may interested some to know that, not only to my ears, SS amps actively configured in some regards have a somewhat more "tubey" sonic imprinting vs. running low eff. passive speakers, not least through the midrange and HF region. This is perhaps more the arena of Mr. Karsten of @atmasphere if there are changing distortion characteristics (or their lack) at play here to account for sonic differences, but in any case the SS amps would see a vastly easier load when not looking into a passive crossover, which is likely the main reason for a deviation in named characteristics.

OP…“Regarding reference systems recently mentioned above. While very respectable, these seem to be professionally grown Systems revealing precise characteristics of music being played that may not be enjoyable for longer-term use.”

Sorry, I am not going to re-read the whole string again. But I think you really nailed it here. The system I had (with high end solid state amp ten years ago), I called my reference system because the moment a new cut came on the venue and mastering was in my face. The level of detail was out of proportion to the musical content. The bass would slap me in the face and chest. This has absolutely never happened in a concert unless some audio engineer turned up the treble / gain too much.

From years attending the symphony, I learned that all the venue clues are there, but the are subtle, not in the foreground, the bass is there but spread out over a half second… not slapping you in the face in a microsecond. 
 

A well designed tube amp gets the gestalt right… it doesn’t overemphasis details. It gets music right. 

@sbonamo 

Sorry to have misinterpreted your post. 
 

But thank you for allowing me to bring up a point why good tube amps outperform solid state. 

@ghdprentice 

Love your main system room, the only thing I would change is the addition of a pool table. How cool to have a party in this amazing space, and addition of a flatscreen.

@emergingsoul 

Thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the space. Fortunately I have a couple OLED flat screens upstairs. I dedicate the downstairs to music, books, and art.