Switched From Tubes To SS???Glad You Did???

I sold my uber expensive all tube system, and bought a beat up pair of Epos M22's and an old Exposure XV integrated. There are tubes in the Jolida CD player...
I love this little system. I was beginning to think I couldn't listen to SS at all. All the expensive stuff at the shows had me fatigued within ten minutes; but this ancient of days gem has me blown away on a daily basis.
...And I have money. I'd forgotten how fun that was.

I have SS for TV rig and tubes for my listening pleasure....SS is just too unnatural sounding to my ears.

Gotta admit, I want to be a tube person. It seems like it should be more soulful, genuine, you know . . . stuff that should be important. I’ve owned two tubed preamps, a tubed CD player, and a tubed DAC. All pretty highly regarded (well, not all...). I keep trying, keep coming back, keep hoping.

But, I gotta be honest with myself, I’m just not a tube person. Maybe my migrations haven’t been fair to the glass-driven end of things as I’ve usually moved to more expensive SS gear (ie, AH!Tjoeb CDP to Meridian 508.24 – no comparison; VTL 2.5 to Rogue 99 Magnum to Plinius and then to Roland – no comparison; MHDT Havana to Ayre QB-9 – holy all-knowing crap, no comparison) but in each progression from tubed to SS gear, in my system at any rate, the SS gear has just been much better. So there’s that. I like chocolate and bourbon, also. Everyone should, ask me, but they don’t. It’s a taste thing.

But finally, what really was the death-knell of tubes for me is that I always found myself second-guessing them. There’s entirely too much anxiety and stress in my professional and daily life already, and the last thing I want during the sadly rare moments I get to unwind in front to the music bits is some damnable voice in the back dark corner of my mind musing, gosh, does that tube sound a bit off? Or maybe the left channel is getting a little tired? Having lived through tubes going south slowly and quietly, not so slowly or quietly, and having had tubed gear blow fuses and dim the lights in my house, I’m just over the petulant little bitches. Too fidgety.

Again, however, normally I’d love the “project” of fussing over tubes, nurturing and experimenting and all that rigmarole. But I am so much happier with rock-solid, reliable, no-fuss SS gear. Every time I make another foray into tubed gear, I’m reminded of that old saying: best part of banging your head against the wall, feels great when you stop. What can I say, just not a tube person, me. I want to be, but I’m not.