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

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!

"There is both good and less-than-good tube gear out there...”
"It is really just a function of which sonic trade-offs you can live with..."

Robsker - Those are very valid points, but I think it’s equally valid to state that the higher the quality of tube gear and tubes that we’re talking about, the more those trade-offs diminish.

"I enjoy tube swapping as a user friendly tone change vehicle...”

Wolf - Tubes can certainly serve that purpose, but higher quality tubes, properly matched with the circuit and each other, can have a much more profound impact than merely altering tones. IMO, that’s where the real opportunity is to achieve the speed, dynamics and all those other goodies associated with solid state.

I suppose I should be more succinct in my description of tube swapping benefits...I meant it changes the SOUND. I think replacing the 6550s in my amp with KT120s made it snappier...although I'm not sure, but I am sure I'm not interested in it sounding like a solid state amp particularly. It did make me feel better so there's that.