[JaZZ]

Team Both -- currently heavily leaning towards solid-state.

 

[tom hankins]

I have heard tube amps that can equal SS for extention in both directions, dynamics, and detail. I have not heard any SS amps that can give you all that and the full, big, powerful, liquid sound of tubes. The only advantage of SS would be (on the average) a little bit of speed.
TEAM TUBES !!!

 

[theaudiohobby]

SS or Tubes is all down to preference.

 

[Nospam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferbose 1) After a few minutes tubes reach a stable sound. I have never been able to detect sound drift in tubes after a few minutes. Normally I listen to music for more than a few munites, so its not a problem. 2) Power tubes last maybe 5000 hrs. Listening 4 hours a day, six days a week, it will last 4 years. Preamp tubes like 12AX7 has an average of 20,000 hours. By the time it burns out, your spare new tubes would become NOS (New Old Stock). Isn't that cool? 3) Unless it is some rare, old tube, you will find the same tube pretty easily. If you can't find it, it is time to move on.

OK, so it's not quite as bad as I was led to believe, but it's still a bit more maintenance than solid state. I just don't like the fact that it's got parts that wear out after a few years.

However, I guess as long as I keep hanging out at this site, I'll eventually break down and check them out... Maybe after I put together a Dynahi, so I can compare.

 

[Tim D]

All amps have caps which will eventually wear out. My Mad Ear amp still has stock tubes which work fine and I have more than enough tubes to outlast the caps.

But reliability depends on the design and builder of course.

In anycase this dichotomy continues to dissolve as differences really come down to individual designs. Wheter the design is push-pull, OTL, has feedback or not, low or high Z output, bipolar or mosfet, DC or AC coupled, etc has far more specific and impactful changes than from just specifying tube vs SS which is overly broad. For example some of the latest SS digital amps have some tube-like characteristics with higher levels of THD, etc. Pretty interesting to consider that the 'latest and greatest' technological advancement in SS amps certainly has some retro characteristics.

I prefer tubes on cold days and SS on hot ones.