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

Its a mix period, both can fail to find the optimal natural sound. I think the current 20 year period most have felt that Tube pre + SS Amp is the best overall compromise. I can agree to a point. But I have heard some SS Preamp's sound a lot more Tube than even Tubes! By the way some Tube preamps just have way to high output impedance and put on a low input impedance SS amp like a 10k ohm will many times sound very thin or not hit that bottom octave very well just as a tip.

Engineering of the circuit design, and matching it to the synergy, and characteristic's of the system are key. Its a whole, no one component will stand on its own including cables, or speakers so you need to narrow down the field quite a bit to get that end result, which is why Audiogon stays in business obviously as people trade out weekly on gear trying to get that "Magic" number or result!

It can get pricey, once you spend it all and come back to simplicity again many times sounds even better, but you will all spend more than you like, and maybe come full circle back to a realistic system and fundamentally well designed system.

It has less to do with power classes, A- A-B, Tube, SS whatever, even digital vs. Analog. And some recordings will just not perform in some amplification schemes the way you would like it too.

My suggestion don't have bias toward any direct topology the music needs to play correctly that's the only measurement that will ultimately satisfy whether you end up SS or Tube.

From expierence the closer the tubes are to the source the better. I also switched tubes in the phono stage and in the cd player. Phono stock tubes are 6922 switched to ECC-88 The cd player stock 12AX7 switched to ECC-83. Both with positive results especially the phono stage. I bought the tubes from TC Tubes. They also matched them which I think also helps the performance.

To Viridian:Why are you selling off the tube gear & what simple SS gear are you going to?Thanks to all for your replies...

I think a lot of it depends on your speakers and what type of amp sounds best with them. Mine like lots of power. A year or so ago, I had a tubed CD player, tubed preamp and hybrid (tube input stage) amps. Very dense, rich sound, wonderful midrange, slightly rolled off but grainless top end and full, fat bass. I have gone to (almost) all SS gear, but had to get pretty good high power Class A amps and a pretty good preamp to make it sound good to me. I am currently doing an extended comparison between the tubed CD player and a SS player that also plays hi-rez dvd's. So far both players sound very good, but have slightly different strengths - a tough choice. In answer to your question, yes I like solid state better for my lifestyle. I am considering class A/B amps solely so I can leave them on for longer periods of time when I am not playing music. Since the tubed CD player only has two tubes, I do not worry about it so much, plus it has a switch that only turns off the tubes but not the electronics. As long as you are not trying to find solid state gear that "sounds like tubed gear," but rather can be happy with SS gear that simply makes good sounding music, then you may be fine, because such gear exists.

First I want to say I understand tube ownership and benefits, and appreciate all of those who own tubes. Given that, I own Klipsch Lascalas (in my main listening system) and am very happy with solid state behind them. Completely black background. Quiet, quiet, quiet. Equipment on 24/7 so available to listen to at a blink of an eye (or ear). Complete assurance of reliability and consistency, at least in my experience. No microphonics to deal with, no tube changing to deal with. Of course I am not speaking of a department store rack system. But after many years of trials and tribulations, I will stay the ss game.