high power tube amps vs ss

GE / SYLVANIA? Last I checked they were pretty similar, if not identical. Unreliability of this tube vintage keeps me looking to new stuff. I do like my 12 AX7 Amperex Bugle Boys and Sylvania and Tung Sol 6 SN 7 tubes, but they are more plentiful. Jallen

Ralph, I tried your experiment of ramping up the gain. I was playing an EMI CD of Tchaikovsky (sp?) Nutcracker. The dynamic range is between 20 and 30 db. I never made it beyond 95db. At that point, external distortion made me turn the gain down. I'm referring to wifey. She threatened to throw a bucket of water on my gear. She introduced at least 90db of negative feedback and the odd ordered harmonics from her screaming really hurt my ears. Any suggestions?

I've owned a LOT of tube guitar amps and a couple of SS and hybrids...tube amps are simply snappier and make people happier. I do use SS bass amps though, as you need extreme power for that. Same with tube hifi amps...60 watts per side with 90db speakers and a SS sub (so sue me) shake my walls if need be, so I bet this sort of thing would shake yours. Also regarding heat...with only 4 KT120s there is not too much more heat than a recent partly class A SS amp I was using, but the tube heat is expected...a Twin Reverb will make the beer on top of it sweat all over the place...just a warning.

Almarg.....I am not sure what solid state amps you are speaking of. Not all ss amps DOUBLE IN POWER OUTPUT when the load changes. My McIntosh MC352,350w per channel Amp does not change in power output for 8,4 or 2 ohm loads. So I am perplexed by your statement. It also seems to me that you are lumping all SS amps together and thats not fair. Nice system and I bet those speakers are 95db sensitivity or better so they work well with the Tube amp. I wish I could hear it.

Jallen I just put in a pair of MAZDA CIFTIES-12AU7's and I really like the top end end on these. Awesome sounding tube made in 1962 for the French Military.