The sound of glasswear

Tubes were supposed to be obsoleted about 50 years ago. Funny thing- in most industries they are, but not in the field of audio. Must be a reason, huh?

my set up has a ss pre and a tube amp. i think the ss lends itself to more accuracy and less distortion when placed closer to the source.

Maybe "pain in the ass" was harsh...I was referring to the fact that tubes are always in a state of flux, thus you have to monitor them for subtle changes as they die (in guitar amps I really don't care as long as they're biased and not burning up...preamp tubes last so long I sort of forget about them). SS gear (in my experience anyway) just keeps on truckin' with no audible degradation for a very long time.

I think Atmasphere hit it on the head. I run both btw...

To answer the above , I don't no if the Salons are tube friendly or not , there very neutral , I had used them with ARC's Ref 3 pre for a few years with no problem .
I have considered the MXR's but I am also using the Ayre C5MP CD player and seem to be getting alot of the Ayre sound already , I was afraid a third Ayre product might be to much of a good thing .
My local dealer sells ARC , but only stock the HD220 hybrid , I'm not a big fan .
The 610T is a bit out of my reach , the Ref210 would fit the bill but it would be buy before you try as they don't stock these amps , and the Ref210's 200 watt output is also 200w at 4ohm . My currant Levinsons 200w at 8ohm and 400w at 4ohm is just sufficient . Regards Tim