How big of a difference do amps make?

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.

Hi Liz,
Maybe you had a bad encounter with a tube power amp I don`t know. I can tell in 20 plus years of using various tube amps they are simple and trouble free.

We all accept that the best amp choice depends on your speakers.Liz, in my experience tube amps have been more realistic and life-like then any SS amp I`ve heard in all these years.I understand your experiences are different from mine.

My current amp is the simplest,trouble free,reliable and by far the best sounding I`ve ever owned.IMO SS amps with odd and upper order distortion is more obviously 'colored' and wrong sounding than many tube amps that admittedly will have more even order distortion. YMMV is definitely true.
Regards,

Tubes, semiconductors or IC It's all matter of design, but you can't wear size 12 shoes when your feet have size 8.

Congratulations Elizabeth. Don't drink the Kool Aid. It's not what we hear, it's what we think we hear. Often, cause and effect are not as direct as we assume.

Ngjockey,
When you purchase your audio components do you choose by how they sound or how you 'think' they sound?Who are the Kool Aid drinkers? why is liz`s viewpoint any better or worse just because she prefers SS amps,it`s simply an individual choice.I`d never say tubes are better for everyone, they just are for me so far.
Regards.