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

There's only one word to sum up tubes..as Ric Flair would say "weather you like it or don't like it TUBES are the best thing goin' Ta-day!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! remember, his shoes cost more than your house! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO! really, you can like anything you want. It just seems that there are too many things to choose from. I'm just happy I can eat whenever I want.

Winking is just creepy. Don't do it.

There is both good and less-than-good tube gear out there and there is both good and less-than-good gear out there that is SS. If you compare good vs. good in each camp, the sonic quality will be comparable (though the relative distribution of strengths and weaknesses in imaging, dynamics, richness, fatigue factor, etc... may differ some). One (SS or tube) does not sound inherently better than the other. It is really just a function of which sonic trade-offs you can live with easier given your system/ear/the music you play.

But the tube gear is always more finicky and a greater pain to maintain. And, in the long run with replacement tubes... probably more expensive than comparable sounding SS.

I have been in both camps and am currently all tube. That said, I kind of wish I was back in the SS camp... it is so much more hassle free.

I will only go back to SS if I want to downgrade in sound or get out of the hobby altogether. I'm getting a Linn Classik for days that I'll only listen to music for 1-2 hours. It'll come in handy if a tube goes out and I have no back up.

Relative pathological or hysterical tonal merit opinions notwithstanding, I enjoy tube swapping as a user friendly tone change vehicle to a degree that I can't imagine not being able to do that. I find the tactile and visual aspects of a tube amp (with tubes I can see) so appealing that the only SS amp I could imagine using has to have at least a meter to look at...I seem to have needs. I'm thinking of designing a display case for my extra tubes with little LEDs under each tube so they glow harmlessly. Official name: The Garcia Tube Display and Dust Protector Art Thing. Try doing that with a display of transistors...not so pretty now is it!