Tube Sound or Solid State- That is the question??

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #20 on:** 22 Aug 2010, 01:51 pm »

I just bought a saucy little SS amp that Srajan Ebaen preferred over some $100,000 300B tube mono blocks!

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.phptopic=84799.msg823289#msg823289

And yes, it kicks some serious butt.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #21 on:** 22 Aug 2010, 02:07 pm »

To me, both can sound great or sub-par. Much of the sound depends on the speakers one chooses to use.

For example, with horn type drivers, tubes can sound great. For large mult driver complex crossover type speakers, a high powered solid state amp is a must.

As they say, it's "Horses For Courses"

timind · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Aug 2010, 03:08 pm »

My system is in a small (11x13) dedicated room. I just can't get past the heat generated by the tube amps I tried. Too uncomfortable to relax and get into the music.
Class D is where I've been for the past couple of years. They work for me.

Zero · « **Reply #23 on:** 22 Aug 2010, 03:17 pm »

As mentioned above, there is no one particular golden cow in which to follow.

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #24 on:** 22 Aug 2010, 03:23 pm »

I like a Mixture of both

Ethan Winer · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 Aug 2010, 02:57 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 20 Aug 2010, 01:27 pm

I like a neutral sound that isn't one or the other. However, I've found that in general SS comes closer to being neutral and uncolored than most tube gear does.

Quote from: Wind Chaser on 20 Aug 2010, 01:31 pm

No preference. A good amp is a good amp. I've owned a number of tube and SS amps over the years. Both can be anything from very good to mediocre.

Both of these opinions sum it up for me too.

--Ethan

rollo · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 Aug 2010, 03:38 pm »

Quote from: Ethan Winer on 23 Aug 2010, 02:57 pm

Both of these opinions sum it up for me too.

--Ethan

Me as well. There is no best. Both can work quite well.

charles

KnowTalent · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Aug 2010, 05:06 pm »

It seems these days that most good tube designs emulate good solid state designs...and vice versa...therefore it really comes down to personal preference imo.

For me I'd rather not deal with tube biasing, tube rolling, and especially the availability/pricing fluctuations that occur when shopping tubes

mjosef · « **Reply #28 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 05:43 am »

No longer a question for me, since I use both.
In warmer weather I use more (or just) solid state, cooler times I use a tube amp for my mid/hi @320Hz and above. I always use a SS amp for bass duties under 320Hz.
In the past I have always used a SS pre, with occasional dabbling with a DIY or cheap tube pre. A few months ago I acquired a top notch tube pre ( CAT) which really took the sound quality up a couple notches.
So my current mix is tube pre > SS X-over > 1. tube amp to mid/hi. 2. SS amp to bass.

underdog64 · « **Reply #29 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 05:51 am »

I prefer tube because I only listen to cd (no vinyl) and tubes adress the weaknesses of cd (less than perfect tonality,and restricted depth of image)

eclein · « **Reply #30 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 02:21 pm »

I gotta say I'm surprised at the numbers, I thought for sure Solid State would be neck and neck with tubes. So what I'm seeing is that most folks like some type of tube sound injected into their system, very cool stuff. I must say also for what little bit of tube gear I have there is most definitely some heat being produced, I can't imagine what kind of heat tube amps would put out. My current setup with a SS amp and Tube DAC + Tube Buffer is just a pleasure to listen to, makes me smile everyday!!!!

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #31 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 02:22 pm »

Quote from: underdog64 on 24 Aug 2010, 05:51 am

I prefer tube because I only listen to cd (no vinyl) and tubes adress the weaknesses of cd (less than perfect tonality,and restricted depth of image)

There's a refreshing honest take

....tho, of late, digital has gotten so much better at such low price points even - that it almost can be listened to with all solid state.

Back in the 70's, before the advent of the DAD, the vast majority of us listened to our vinyl on all solid state. And, it sounded perfectly wonderful

I use tube amps, and while I think it adds a little flavor favorable to both digital and vinyl, it clearly adds more benefit to the digital playback side.

John

fsimms · « **Reply #32 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 02:33 pm »

Quote

Back in the 70's, before the advent of the DAD, the vast majority of us listened to our vinyl on all solid state. And, it sounded perfectly wonderful

It wasn't until the 80's that I heard a Proton SS receiver that sounded as good as my old 60's Fisher tubed receiver. I still have the Fisher and although it still sounds good the newer tube stuff is better.

Bob

BobRex · « **Reply #33 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 02:53 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 24 Aug 2010, 02:22 pm

There's a refreshing honest take ....tho, of late, digital has gotten so much better at such low price points even - that it almost can be listened to with all solid state.

Back in the 70's, before the advent of the DAD, the vast majority of us listened to our vinyl on all solid state. And, it sounded perfectly wonderful

Allow me to play devil's advocate here... Audio Research and a few (very few) others were making tube gear early in the 70's. Those of us that were aware of that equipment obviously had an ear up on the rest of you

. And there were many SS pieces that were less than wonderful - I'm thinking Crown and Phase Linear as examples. So maybe ignorance was bliss for the vast majority and you really didn't know what you were missing until the tube renaissance exploded onto the scene.

I'm still not convinced that tubes add something so much as SS omits. Therefore CD and SS are additive in their omissions, creating a substantial deficit in sonic splendor. Recent SS has made great strides in emulating tubes (remember, many, many SS designers claim to try to emulate tube's strengths. Paul McGowan once said that he loved the sound of tubes, he just hated designing with them), but they still aren't there.

CSI · « **Reply #34 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 03:04 pm »

Audio hobbyists tend to love tubes or at least have a love/hate relationship with them per the posts in this thread. Music lovers who are not hobbyists - those who may actually be serious listeners but who can't be bothered messing about with gear - are often surprised to learn that vacuum tubes still exist.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #35 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 03:24 pm »

There is no generic tube sound. Same goes for SS. I've heard many mediocre tube amps that sound down right blah! Wouldn't have one in my system even if it were free. I think there's a nostalgic fascination with tubes that leads to the assumption that tubes are inherently better than SS, but that's just vanity humping ignorance. And that’s coming from someone who has switched between tubes and SS many times over the course of years.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #36 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 03:27 pm »

I cannot listen to tube gear for long unless it is voltage regulated.

Then and nearly only then, does the wallowing sound I hear in tube gear get taut and leaner - closer to solid state in that regard - and all the more like music.

This is especially true with tube amps....without strict voltage regulation, they tend to sound terrible (to me).

John

JLM · « **Reply #37 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 03:28 pm »

I'm a solid state guy, but I've never read of a tubed product trying to emulate a solid state sound.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #38 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 03:33 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 24 Aug 2010, 03:28 pm

I'm a solid state guy, but I've never read of a tubed product trying to emulate a solid state sound.

Strict voltage regulation does help bridge that gap between SS and tube sound. It leans out the oft-flabby tube sound, leaves the wonderful midrange in tact, but tightens up the frequency extremes, especially the flubby bass.

Voltage regulation should also help augment tube life....so that one further argument against tube gear would be curtailed a bit.

Those of you that go thru tube after tube gear, liking something about it but never quite getting all you need from it - insist on an amp or preamp that is strictly voltage regulated; you may well find what you have sought. I did

Somewhere in the middle of the two extremes lies the right sound....

John

BobM · « **Reply #39 on:** 24 Aug 2010, 04:36 pm »

SS amps definitely have more slam and control than tube amps (given typical speakers, not 105db efficient horns and not 82db inefficient speakers). Tube amps definitely have more bloom than SS amps though. Old world tube amps had a boomy/wooly bottom end and a somewhat rollled-off top end. Not the common case these days, although not all tube amps can hold it together on the bottom or control a big woofer adequately.

Tube pre-amps have more bloom than SS preamps, but not as much as a tube amp. So if you're looking at the best of both worlds, with a SS amp and a tubed pre-amp you should attain the control but may not get all the bloom you may want.

All the time, it is a matter of choice and a matter of trade-offs and pairings with your speakers. Usually a quest to achieve more of one thing causes a reduction or loss of something else. It's very hard to get it all in one package. Why do you think supposedly "state of the art" components and systems tend to sound so very different from one another?

Poll

Do you prefer a Solid State Sound or Tube Sound when listening to music??

Tube Sound or Solid State- That is the question??