Soundstage, Imaging, Detail & Presence??

Stereo comes from the Greek word, stereos, meaning 'solid'.
Hopefully, if detail, imaging and presence gives one the illusion of a live event or at least, of something real happening in front of you, then Bob's your uncle; you're not in Kansas anymore.

These are things most audiophiles never find.

Lrsky,
Nice post! your description of presence mirrors my experiences, this is what triggered my transition from solid state systems to push-pull tubes and finally to SET tube amplifiers. The sense of live 3D performers and the ability to recreate the original venue is powerful and addictive. Once experienced I could`nt go back to lesser presentations anymore.

Charles1dad,
I remember my first 'tube' experience.
I had opened a high end audio store in Louisville, KY.
Bill Conrad kept calling, trying to get me to sell cj products. He's such a sweet guy, how could anyone object to doing business with him?
Anyway, when I got a PV-5 in, 'circa 1983'...I noticed the extreme heat and smell of the tubes...then I was thunderstruck by the 'space', 'space within space' and the overall presentation being on a whole different planet in terms of low level resolution...that, and the overall 'smoothness'...I was hooked...still am.

As I tell fledgling audiophiles, 'Tubes is great'! lol.

Larry

Lrsky, Amen brother.