Help learn diff.between SS and Tube

I have yet to hear a good ss amp be as holographic as a good tube amp. A conventional tube amp is not as holographic as SET amps. SS lacks life and energy compared to SET amps. Listen to Jota, Viva, Wyetech to name a few. SS bores me silly in comparison. I don't know if it is in the small dynamic contrast or what but ss always leaves me thinking of something else other than the music.

I'm certainly not going to dispute what you hear cornfedboy since you have a 70k system and obviously have been at this for a while. I also don't pretend that I have heard all the best there is. Living in Central Florida, there aren't too many high end dealers other than the Miami area but I do have a question for you. What expensive ss amp is as holographic as a comparable tube counterpart? Also what ss amp do you use in your system? And if they also offer the "palpable presence" in the midrange of their tube counterpart I would be interested in owning it. It is not the glow of the tube I am enamored with it is the music tubes produce.

I wouldn't necessarily attribute the Anthem's lack of the slam factor to it's being a tube design. Actually, the tubes are only used for the input section. The rest of the amp is a ss as it gets. I would say that it is more likely that you are hearing the particular voicing characteristics that were designed into the amp. There are quite a number of tube amps with very strong slam factors... the Wolcotts, Sonic Frontiers Power 3's and even the Mesa Baron. There are lots of good sounding ss amps that have less than center-of-the-earth bass... the McCormack DNA1 comes to mind. For me, the sound of tube amps that I've liked is so much more... well, like real music. I also get a much stronger sense of "hearing the room" than I get with comparable ss equipment. Maintanance and "tweeking" isn't as big a deal as I initially thought it would be either.

I wold be interested in knowing what you use for tube amps. I have a pair of Classe Audio CA-400"s and I have never heard a tube amp that came close. I found tubes mushy and sluggish. Maybe there not a good match for my speakers. Sonus Faber Extremas. I am not trying to start a heated argument about it. I am curious and open to what you have to say.

let me try to respond to the queries my post has generated. first, i have nothing against tube electronics or those that prefer them. i have owned tube pres and/or amps from cj and arc. i've also listened extensively to other tube amps, pre's and frontends in iterations of my own systems and those of my friends in the audio community. these products have included, by way of example, those from nagra, vtl, cary, manley, atmasphere, audio note, airtight, aesthetix, jadis and bat, among others. i have not found any tube amps with reputations for reliability and quality control that will drive without breakup the last three sets of speakers i have owned to the levels i prefer. all of these speakers were made by avalon acoustics : eclipse's, ascent's and currently eidolons. i also auditioned the aethetix phono with my ascents and was dissapointed with the results. (i do plan to try it again with the eidolons, which are somewhat more efficient than the ascents.) recently, i have listened to the newest avalon speakers, symbols, driven by a 35w/side airtight; they sounded marvelous. anyway, the amp i've used for several years, with numerous upgrades, is a jeff rowland, now designated as an 8ti. i do greatly prefer this range of jrdg amps to the newest one. the model 8 is wonderfully musical and completely non-fatiguing. some critical listeners, tho probably not many of you guys, describe it as "tube-like, with balls." with the eidolons and my accuphase dc 330 pre/dac, the jrdg throws a hugely deep and wide soundstage, with lots of air and definition. it helps provide, in sum, what i regard as a holographic image. the other 2 brands of amps i've tried that have this same quality are made by accuphase and boulder. in particular, i like a pair of accuphase a-50's bridged and the boulder 2060. both of these choices are much more dear than the most recent jrdg 8, the 8tihc. they do, however, provide a spectacular soundstage against a deep black, silent background. and, yes, the presentation is palpable to the goosebump stage and beyond, even more so than with my jrdg. i know some of you don't beleive what i'm saying but, hey, that's ok. i just hope you have a chance to listen to at least some of what i've described. FWIW, i hope to "complete" my system next year by adding a separate phono pre; that is likely to be tubed, either an aesthetix or nagra. cheers to all!