Tubes vs Solid State - Imaging, Soundstaging, 3D

Michaelkingdom, another data point for you. I’ve always been curious but leery of tube stuff, so have always had SS. It’s been a steady climb over several years to decent gear. Some changes brought immediate grins, some took a little time to internalize, like higher resolution/closer to the source isn’t always more fun to me, but usually brings better imaging and space. Regardless, the sound eventually becomes de facto and I can appreciate it for what it is. Still, there was that nagging itch to try tubes.

Yes, this is another tube testimonial. I recently put together a second (cheap) system and decided it was the perfect time to take the plunge – no worries if the things failed. Let me just say that the clichés about tubes are true. I’m not saying this system is better than my SS gear, but even with older, lower level source components and speakers, way cheap cabling and no power conditioning, I can hear good things I don’t with SS, including a quality to the imaging and sense of space. It comes down to instrument tone and the note-to-note flow. Someone said it similarly earlier, the instrument’s image and the space itself sound more real – better tone and more gradual decay, more fun listening.

Melbguy1- I'm sorry for your loss. If you review Wolf's other posts, you will see that his comment was entirely in keeping w his usual irreverence. With regard to the actual subject matter here, you say

In my experience solid-state amplifiers have the tendency to grab and hold my attention for longer than tubes do. I think this is because I visually listen to the music and am constantly trying to figure out where a guitarist is standing, how close the singer is to the microphone, how many microphones were used for the drums, etc.

Isn't that exactly the problem w ss amps? You're thinking about the engineering of the recording and where the guitar player is standing, not experiencing the music and appreciating the artist's gift to us. I would describe your response as "analytical" vs. what many "tube-ophiles" describe as an emotional response. And maybe that's the yin and yang of this discussion. Different strokes for different folks, YMMV, IMHO, LSMFT, SQ3R ;-) BTW, that means that the last sentence was meant in a light-hearted, playful manner, not trying to be rude or sarcastic. OK, that new last sentence was sort of sarcastic. My bad. Relax; it's all good. Any sorry again for your loss. It will get better over time and remember it wouldn't hurt so much if there hadn't been so much love.

" In my experience solid-state amplifiers have the tendency to grab and hold my attention for longer than tubes do. I think this is because I visually listen to the music and am constantly trying to figure out where a guitarist is standing, how close the singer is to the microphone, how many microphones were used for the drums, etc."

"Isn't that exactly the problem w ss amps?"

No, not always. Its not unique to tube amps. I've heard both types, including the ones I own, enable this kind of critical listening for me quite well.

The best tube and SS gear tends to converge towards a more similar sound quality. Its not unique to either technology I find, though each has its unique flavors of sound that each does well, perhaps better than the other as well for sure. Which flavor, the common more "vanilla" sound quality or the more uniquely flavored ones, one prefers is a completely up to the individual.

SO the best tube and SS sound tends to be similar I would say, but there are many unique flavors of each to choose from as well.

If Mirthless Melbguy1 had continued to harass me with his odd private messages wherin he weirdly plays a sympathy card, I had planned to post 'em just to embarass him out of my mail! He saved me from this...whew...and again, he MUST be joking, or clearly in need of therapy...put my responses in their proper time stamped order and note that, for me anyway, I was relatively gentle with this strange dude. I suggest people who are too emotionally unstable to go out with their "big boy" pants on even to a discussion site, stay home...unless he really is messing with me...in which case it's ALL GOOD. Here's the initial email he left out and I happily include:

From: melbguy1 (David Allen)
Your personally vindictive passing comments to me in that thread were cold, humiliating and deeply hurtful, and likely to cause damage to my reputation on this forum. I have had a family tragedy and am not coping well at the moment. Did you ever stop to think before you atttack someone and accuse them of all those hurtful things??? I just wanted you to know that.

I re-read my comments and thought they were typical of what I always say, tragedy update notwithstanding. Personally vindictive indeed!

I also received a PM from Mel he didn't mention the recent passing of his grandfather however. The gist of it was he felt me and my "tube mates" on this thread were picking on him. At that point I thought this was becoming too personal and frankly unnecessary. I just want to express my opinions and read those of other participants. The audio topics are fun but overall not important. For the final time, buy what ever type of audio component you enjoy most and then call it a day.
Charles,