solid state vs tubes


has anyone compared a tube amp to a solid state amp and discovered that the diffference sonically between them was undetectable. ? if so what was the tube amp and what was the solid state amp ?

the reason for the question is the basic issue of the ability to distinguish a tube amp from a solid state amp.

this is especially interesting if the components were in production during the 90's , 80's or 70's.

if the components are in current production the probability of such aan occurrence might increasea.

why own a tube amp if there exists a solid state amp that sounds indistinguishable from it ?
mrtennis
I am a solid state guy because some things solid state does most tube amps cant do. Also solid state is much more reliable and cheaper to buy. I have heard tube amps that I like The Lamm being one of them but they are usually prohibitively expensive. Also the newer the tube amps the more likely they will have some solid state character so it is very possible that u can not tell the difference between them.
"I have auditioned and owned some and have not enjoyed the upper mid range and lower treble of [SS] amps."

I think it's very hard to get away from that once you've heard this in SS.

I was on the hunt for almost ten years trying to find a SS amp that I could live with--and hopefully afford. Long story short: my last SS amp was a Plinius, and now I own an Atma-Sphere OTL. There is always a trade-off of one inconvenience for another, and the one that you can live with is the one that remains between the speakers.
I feel tubes are getting more SS, but in a good way. The days of coloured midrange and rolled off base and treble, are becoming less common, in tube amps. They still though, for me, have that magical speed, transparency, tonal richness, I find hard to find in SS.

Where are the differences? I am sure as Mapman says, one reason is the benign clipping you get with tube amps. I am sure a SS aficionada will say SS amps do'nt need to clip as they are more powerful at a given price point.

The other reason, I believe, is that tube amps tend to have fewer components in the signal pathway. I know there are exceptions, Pass Labs Aleph series for example. I think thats one reason my Aleph 3 sounded tube like.

The nearest a tube sound I reached in SS, was the Aleph 3 and the Lavardin IT. Nothing else has come close.