solid state vs tubes

All of the tech talk aside,what it all boils down to is,you need to have a tube amp at home,in your own system.If possible,it would be nice if you also could have the solid state amp at home available to change between the two, and spend a good amount of time with each.The more time you live with each one,the more of a chance you have to find out what each has to offer.Being in this hobby for several decades, and many different amps,plus other types of components in and out of my system,I find that tube amps do offer a natural sound about them that solid state never has offered me.That aside,I do use solid state also,but mostly for convenience.I am not saying solid state amps are bad.They just can't do the same.People say tubes can't either,mostly in the bass resign.Ever since solid state came out(over fifty years plus ago),they have been trying to give the consumer what they noticed is missing,since their introduction.After all those past years of them (the designers),trying to achieve this,it hasn't changed much,if any.I don't think the tube amp builders are feeling any loss to the serious listener,that has spent a lot a time with both.On the other subject about Bob Carver,that got him taken as being a serious designer in the audio world.He himself stated that the Transfer Function is not going to take place of tubes.He finds that he could be satisfied with solid state.If they did that test at the reviewers home,in their own systems,I imagine the outcome would have been totally different,and would have been more fair.With all of this said,you need to compare the two in your own system,for some time.How long depends on you.I don't think there are any rules in general for the time it may take for someone to notice the plus and minus of each amp type.If they took my amps away,and gave me a choice of one tube amp,or one solid state amp,I think I myself would settle for the tube amp.

Hifi,

Yes, I think each person has their own goals and motivations that determine the right solution for them. Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses with considerable overlap possible.

In my case, my speakers are the determining factor. My OHM speakers are the key ingredient in my system that cannot be easily replaced by other designs cost effectively. In lieu of using a separate sub perhaps, these speakers require SS amps to get everything they are capable of out of them. That dictates my course. The results satisfy me when I compare them with the best reference systems I have heard, which includes various systems run off tube amps.

So its worth r-iterating again that it is hard to focus on switching just one component (a tube for SS amp) and delivering similar or better results. USually a major change like this will have ripple effects that require other changes to go along with it to achieve the desired results. You should be prepared for that if you make a major change to a system you already like, regardless of teh technologies applied. If you are not ready to potentially have to start all over again, then stay put.

Soft clipping means that dynamic range is restricted to some extent as I understand. That means loudness cues are reduced relatively, all other things aside, as well, right?

What I was talking about is the types of distortions made by tubes and transistors, VS how the ear hears. It is true that the soft clipping of tubes means you will get less of the odd-ordered harmonics, but this has nothing to do with dynamic range. That is a completely different issue!

Minorl, I do take exception to one comment you made about
"well engineered/designed tube or solid state amps", which is the issue of the human ear. If the equipment is "well engineered" to look good on paper, how "well engineered" is it to obey the rules of human hearing? In my book, it is thus not well engineered to the task that it was built for, since the bench specs have very little to do with how human hearing rules.

Have you seen this link? IMO this is one of the more serious stumbling blocks MrT has to face in his quest, and why I commented earlier on the particular SS amps that I did.

http://www.atma-sphere.com/papers/paradigm_paper2.html

"It is true that the soft clipping of tubes means you will get less of the odd-ordered harmonics, but this has nothing to do with dynamic range."

Less loudness cues perhaps then. If you perceive the peaks as less loud because that is how people hear, that would seem to infer that the dynamic range is affected, at least as perceived, since the peaks do not seem as loud anymore, just as those nasty loudness cues due to negative feedback that you are focused on make you perceive things as louder as you describe. Two different things causing perhaps opposite effects in regards to how loudness cues are "perceived"? Only one is adding and one is subtracting. I suppose the truth lies somewhere in the middle then when negative feedback is applied appropriately to not produce the undesired side effects.

Compare the 'best' with the 'best' and see....and not just the amp, but an entire system.
Source, pre/amp and speakers.

I'll bet the BEST of each when properly matched have much more in common than differences. Some of these esoteric differences which I see bandied about, may be unheard in a 'best' system.

Even the best tube amps will fall flat with highly reactive loads of huge impedance swings, while SS has its own limits, maybe when dealing with single driver / full range speakers.