How big of a difference do amps make?

In the last 20 years, only encounter with "fireworks" was with a SS amplifier. Never with a tube amplifier.

I am no expert but I have heard a significant difference in sound tonality, etc...whether it be when trying a different amp, a different preamp, or a different source when using the same speakers. And then, when trying different speakers with these same components...again a significant difference in sound again...and on and on.....IMHO any component in the chain can make a significant difference (to some degree) in sound.

McPherson, yes, without question. I went from a Carver M 1.5t amp Carver C-1 preamp to a McIntosh 7270 SS amp to the Carver C-1 pre then tried both amps hooked up to my current Cary SLP98P tube pre. The pre made a difference with the SS amps and so did the amps, then I hooked up a Cary V12R tube amp to the Cary tube pre, and heard a big difference, and an even bigger difference when I hooked up my current Cary CAD120's tube amp. Thursday, I'll be getting some (8) matched Gold Lion KT-88 tubes to find out if they will make a difference instead of the stock Electro-Harmonic's.

Amps make a huge difference!! Compare systems with amps to those without, the difference is night and day!!

Historic moment: the first time Rok has said *any* equipment change is audible! :)

I’m no physicist - just a Science Channel junkie; but it seems that modern physicists no longer talk about space and time as separate entities. That’s because they found that space and time are so codependent that the singe word spacetime is more useful. I’m beginning to think that it’s time for audiophiles to do the same thing with speakers and amplifiers. Like space and time, they are so codependent that to consider them separately serves very little purpose. Just a thought.