Solid State to Tubes and Back Again

I made the switch only once in 1977 when ss finally camos of age. For the 20 prior years it was tubes warts and all and I has just about had it and ready to ditch the hobby alltogehther when the Mark Levinson and Threshold gear came out.

In a month I had ditched all the tube gear and have remained in ss ever since. Now at 67 with my hearing not nearly as good as it once was, no way in hell going with newer tube gear. There are two different camps on ss and tube and neither will ever find common ground. Both have their plus and minus in owning them. Now with Spectral gear and that is most likely my bucket list system.

For those that like to tinker and tweak tubes may be the way to go, for rock solid reliability, high end solid state is the answer, at least for me it was and remains my answer.

But I tell ya my 20 years in tubes is not a time I ever wish to revisit.

some class a amps are more costly to use than some tube amps.

I can't help but think of a hybrid amp as I read this thread. You may have missed a fine opportunity with the recent sale of the Pathos Classic Mk III for $1250. The Peachtree Audio hybrid for about the same price includes the remarkable Sabre DAC. I've heard both and you can't go wrong with either one.

Louisgiants, all true observations. Im not looking to break the bank either. Quicksilver makes a nice pre, as do the other companies you listed.

Thanks for sharing, Ferrari. So you were doing this audio thing when tubes were all there was. I can see why you want nothing more to do with them.

I've read several positive reviews of the Pathos gear, but I have never heard a hybrid. are there advantages to having a hybrid over an all tube amp?

I go back and forth from SS to tubes and back again every time I move from my 2 channel system downstairs to my 5 channel system upstairs. No application of audiophile dogma here, one system uses 116 dB horns and one uses 84 dB box speakers.

Gee, if I can remember, I think I actually biased the tubes once in the last year. Yeah, that took all of 5 minutes. And then there was the time I had to send a SS amp back to the manufacturer for re-biasing. That took 2 weeks and several hundred dollars in shipping cost.

My point is that making generalized statements about one or the other is just a pissing contest. I would rather take each individual component on it's own merits as it interacts in my system. To each his own.