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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
mrtennis OP
3,295 posts
 
as i have stated before, my favorite amp is the conrad johnson mv 125. i am convinced that there does not exists a solid state amp that comes close to the cj.

i don't own the cj. i own a pair of vtl deluxe 120s.

based upon the comments so far , i am confident that i will not find a solid state amp which sounds like the vtls. that is , i would expect that in a blind test, i think i could identify the difference between my vtls and any ss amp.

thus, all i can do is listen to some more ss amps until i throw my hands in the air and give up.

i suspect i should look for class a amps for likely candidates.

incidentally, i once owned a pass aleph 0 and was using it with a pair of quad 63s.

i did not like the treble response and sold the amp.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,464 posts
 
From what I have read about the line, my impression is that CJ gear is not a line that can be emulated practically by SS in that it has a distinctive signature and less neutral tube sound. My impression of VTl is similar but perhaps not to the same extent.
unsound
7,333 posts
 
Mapman, you might find this interesting:
http://www.stereophile.com/features/the_carver_challenge/index.html
magfan
1,583 posts
 
The devices made by IR are 100% not symmetrical MOSFETs. The gate and source are on the top of the device, while the drain is the bottom of the wafer, which, while I can't discuss fabrication details, has an ohmic contact with the package.

So, gate/source is very low cap while the drain is many microns away, so should have much higher capacitance.

No effort at all for a groove-type symmetry. This is strictly a planar device.

Rleff (nice, diffusion oriented name).....I'm not knowledgable about probe enough to know who makes what. The last HP stuff I saw in a test area were the frequency meters used to tune quartz crystal oscillators. This was no later than about '80.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,464 posts
 
Unsound,

Yes, I recall that. It was a CJ amp that the Carver m1.0t was emulating I think?

I had a Carver m4.0t with silver seven transfer function to sound like Carver's statement tube amp for years. It did sound more like a tube amp than most SS amps perhaps and put out 360 w/ch to boot. It worked very well with Magnepan mg1cs, conveying a lot of typical tube amp strengths and weaknesses.
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