SS vs Tube: What do you hear?

GMKOWAL: I own both Spectral and ARC (I chose those two because of sound quality and the company's reputation for service), most of the time I run the Spectral, extremely neutral and extemely hi-rez. The ARC is warmer sounding, but not as neutral and not as hi-rez. The soundstage is slightly larger for the ARC, but imaging is slightly more diffuse for the ARC than the Spectral. I am an old codger and also getting more lazy as time goes on, so biasing/replacing tubes is getting to be a pain. If anybody is looking to replace their tubes for ss take a look at Spectral.

I remember my first tubed pre(cary slp70). Since then I have gone back and forth, tubed pre-ss amp,all ss, and then I took the plunge and now have all tubed gear. For me this is where I will stay. There is nothing like it.Try the Anthem gear if you want to see what tubes will do on a budget.

Shubertmaniac, love your handle. Thanks for the reccomendation! I will add them to my list of must listen to amps for consideration.

I really like the SF Line 2 pre-amp (tubed) with my big McCormack DNA-2DX (SS) amp. It impresses me as the best of both worlds (OK, an excellent compromise). While it may be true that SS manufacturers try to emulate the "tube" sound, I believe this is only true in the mids and highs. OTOH, tube amp manufactures would love to achieve the taut, quick bass control That even inexpensive solid state amps do pretty effortlessly. For example, the SS McCormack DNA.5 ($1295.new) has excellent bass control, whereas the same power Tubed SF Power 2 amp ($5000. new) has at best "acceptable" bass IMO. I only note this because pace, rhythm, and timing (PRT) are very important to me, and solid state amps do this much better because of their much better bass control IMHO. It may be that the very powerful, and very expensive tube amps have the kind of bass control that I want, but I seriously doubt that I could afford to buy or re-tube them. Trelja and I have been through this discussion before, and I think we respect each others position. My intent is not to "fan the flames". Cheers. Craig

......got to add that yes, tubes really do produce a midrange magic that is seductive.