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Can tube preamps be as 'detailed' sounding as ss?

Recently I bought a minimax tubed preamp. After several weeks of listening and comparing to my Plinius Cd-Lad pre, I've decided I like some things about the minimax, but more things about the Plinius
1. minimax adds a sense of realism and increased soundstage depth a little
2. minimax added more hiss to the system
3. better bass with the Plinius
4. better details and clarity with the Plinius
5. Wider soundstage with Plinius

I really enjoyed the increase sense of realism though. Is it possible that a better tubed pre (such as Cary slp-98) would retain the clarity and details of the Plinius and add the midrange lushness? Or would a hybrid tube pre give the best of both worlds (like a Cary slp-308)?
thanks for your thoughts
rest of system, Bryston 3bst, Ayre cx-7, Audio Physics Libra
machman12000
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,138 posts
 
The quick answer is 'yes'.

The more complex answer is that transistor preamps might sound more detailed at first blush due to the presence of odd-ordered harmonic content (at low level) which serves as a loudness cue in the mids and highs. This causes them to seem more detailed, but a good tube preamp will have actually more detail yet be laid-back at the same time.

IOW some audiophiles equate brightness and detail unconsiously- when odd-orderd distortion is what they are really talking about (this is where the term 'clinical' comes from). Often the word 'dynamics' is used to describe odd-ordered harmonic distortion too.

audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
>>There's not any ss amy that can match even the littlest of Jadis the Orch Refer on any level. Not even close.<<

Really?? Maybe you discuss this with Nelson Pass. He may have a differing opinion.
undertow
1,033 posts
 
Tubes can have more power and dynamic raw sound than solid state, you would be surprised.. Tubes virtually have unlimited bandwith in many cases vs. the solid state transistor counterparts 20-20k... Some tubes can sound More Audiophile Named "Solid state" than solid state can sound, which is normally not the goal but proof that tubes give up nothing in comparison if implemented correctly but can gain a HALO or emotionally more pleasing sound with all the detail brought forth even more so.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Atmasphere: Mr. Karsten, I wish I could believe your explanation were the whole story, but to me that's the first post of yours I've seen that just sounds too pat and self-serving. I like and own both tube and solid-state gear, so I have no special agenda in that debate, and I'll be the first to admit that like most audiophiles I'm not technically competent to debate the point on your level. From what I've heard (not nearly everything, or even very much by typical audiophile standards, including none of your own gear), good apparent detail transmittal is available from both technologies. As I noted above, I don't think it's as simple as saying that SS has a lower noise floor and therefore must be more detailed, but neither do I think it's as simple as saying that SS always suffers from distortions that give only a false impression of detail and therefore tubes offer more real detail. Personally I think tubes can suffer from at least as much in the way of audible anomolies of various kinds as can transistors. But I also think painting either approach with too broad a brush is to downplay the importance of design, something I'm a little surprised to see a designer such as yourself endorse.
bojack
684 posts
 
Ditto on checking the tubes. I have tube amps that sounded positively awful (unlistenable awful) all because they had cheap driver tubes.
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