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So philosophically, bipolar is inherently better than mosfet or jfet?
So Dejan,You could have a design that uses tubes in the voltage gain input/driver stage, and bipolars for the output stage? What would be so hard about that?
I would like to see a preamp that had different "voicings" kind of like a guitar amp, only not nearly as radical in tonal adjustment. Imagine if you could throw a switch and go from "cold and neutral" to "warm and lush" or a few different variants all without swapping gear and cables around. The thing with this gear is that more often than not the thing only has one sound and if you aren't happy with that sound you've got no choice but to try something else. Gets to be pretty tweaky and expensive. It would be cool if you could have some choices of 'character' up front.(ooh, lookit that; just 333 more posts to go! )
DVV, I have a tube linestage, and a pair of solid state Odyssey monoblock amps along with my Audio Research tube amp. I've also used a Sim Audio Moon W3 and GamuT D200 solid state with this linestage, but the solid state signature was still there, and didn't cut it for me.Nathan, Adcom makes a preamp that does have a switch that lets you switch between solid state and tube sound.
jw from Tampa - first post? Welcome!But be wary of Dejan - he can be very persuasive.
Dejan, in a nutshell, for me, a solid state signature just sounds more electronic, which is a barrier that prevents me from connecting in some elusive organic way to the music. I have only gotten this connection to the music from tubes. But I will admit that most tube amps I've listened to lack this quality as well. Maybe there are SS designs out there that can do this. God knows there are scores that I haven't tried (yet).
We are listening to an assortment of electronic components recreating a musical event that itself was recorded via more electronic components, and most commonly stored on a digitized medium. How we can still convince our senses that we are hearing the music as it was actually performed is a miracle because of so much electronics involved.
Tubes just seem to have the ability to sound less electronic than transistors, I guess, and that is the difference I must be hearing (or feeling with my other senses). I think we experience listening with more than our ears. I think our other senses and body must be involved in how we hear something.My wife is a good example of being able to easily differentiate the differences between tube and solid state, and I think she is doing so with more than her ears. I have never been able to get her to listen to music with me with an SS amp for more than 10 minutes before she gets up and leaves, even when I thought it was sounding good. When I ask her what's wrong, she is unable to describe exactly what she is experiencing, but it always comes down to the fact that it was not pleasant and she was not enjoying the music, even when listening to her favorite recordings. When she has listened with me when using a tube amp, which is not very often anyways, she sticks around much longer, sometimes for hours. Not one to get into long winded explanations, she just says she is enjoying the music. Maybe there is some sort of threshold for her where there is just enough reduction of electronic signature that allows her to connect to the music.
And maybe that is the difference between those who prefer solid state and those who prefer tubes. Maybe there is a threshold of tolerance for electronic sound that is lower for tube lovers. It's hard to state this without making it sound like tube lovers have more refined hearing as if they were wine connoisseurs. I don't think it's that. It's like having a lower tolerance for pain, maybe. SS advocates maybe have a higher tolerance for pain that is caused somehow by a harmonic frequency range that is not necessarily audible.I can certainly hear the areas where solid state seems to have the upper hand like dynamic drive, transient attack, better definition of low level detail. I appreciate these qualities, and yet I still can't warm up to SS. I wish I could, really. My preference for tubes is definitely not driven by any nostalgia or fashion, or a desire to drive up my electric bill or the temperature of my room, and I'm certainly not looking forward to the eventual need of replacing all the tubes in my amp.
The only thing that ultimately moves anyone is good songwriting and good performance. We all knew that before we knew about equipment. Before the tape mechanism stopped working I got way more enjoyment out of my semi-crappy car stereo than my home system. Fidelity-wise it was a train wreck; an average 70db noise floor in there I measured today! Sheesh! One of the rear surrounds was partially eaten away by the sun. But it didn't matter, the song pervades all. It's like 90% songwriting and 10% equipment. When the balance tips the other way your brain has shifted gears and is seeking satisfaction in sound and not music. It's a matter of where your point of reference is.
No one can question their technically more accurate response as compared to tubes
This is why I keep saying brother Nate - 100% agreed, though I never installed any sound in my car, the engine plays nice tunes all by itself.
Don't forget the exhaust! I loved the symphony of induction roar, singing valvetrain and exhaust burble of the car I gave up before coming to Hong Kong. Its song - starting off with a baritone burble rising through a throaty full chesty roar into a tenor wail - as it raced to its redline would raise the hairs at the back of my neck more readily than most home audio systems! No vibration, no strain, just effortless power and glorious music. Yup, like a good home audio system!
