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| Ross, even though you think the X-Can is a crap product, I'm curious what you thought was so wrong with it...Just to compare notes. |
The X-Cans is a cheap solid state amp masquerading as a tube amp. It uses cheap solid state components, including a 20c op amp chip as its gain stage, and then adds a couple of tubes at the end to try to give some tube softness.
And that is exactly what it sounds like - a cheap solid state amp with some bad tube sound added to the mix. It sounds thin, grey and cold (like a cheap solid state amp) with a bit of tube glare and softness thrown in (like a cheap tube amp) - it is the worst of both worlds.
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| Melos, Berning ZOTL, or Earmax Pro. Any of the three will drive your 325 or 4p, and will blow away the Cosmic. |
This is not necessarily true. I have an Earmax Pro and Maxed Out Home, as well as a couple of other solid state amps, and prefer the Maxed Home and the lesser SS amps. This is a matter of taste. If you prefer tubes to solid state, you would probably prefer the three tube amps mentioned. However, if you prefer solid state, then obviously this will not be the case. As to why anyone sould prefer solid state , see my comments below ...
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| X-Cans is a single-ended triode tube unit so it immediately blows away any solid state unit, assuming enjoyment of music is part of your listening criteria. Solid state/transistor components add grain and distortion on things like sibilants and cymbals, sort of a "white noise"effect. So, as the drummer said in "The Commitments", they're "F*@#ed for starters". Tubes are more in tune with reality and the real sounds of instruments and voices. They are more dynamic and more able to separate instruments and keep their composure during loud passages. They also keep low level detail fully apparent, even at low volumes. With tubes, it's just the music, without an electronic glaze or hash woven into it. |
This is, with the greatest of respect, ********.
Tube amp distortion is measurably higher than solid state - orders or magnitude higher. It is the distortion of tube amps that adds their characteristic sound and it is the distortion which you are enjoying listening to. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it's true.
Tubes are soft at the bottom end and rolled off in the high frequencies. Good solid state amps beat the hell out of
any tube amps in this respect.
Good solid state amps are faster and more dynamic than
any tube amp.
To my ears, all tube amps sound, to varying degrees, soft, slow, rolled off, and glassy. You hear things differently, and that's fine.
Tubes vs solid state is a question of personal preference. I prefer solid state, having heard and owned many tube amps. To say that one is objectively "better" than another or that one is "more in tune with reality" is complete bollocks.
Ross
