Is pure class A ss the equal to tubes?

Pass Labs Alephs do me fine.

Pretty much a hypothetical question.As Twl correctly pointed out, there are far to many missing pieces in the puzzle to answer definatively.Speaker efficiency and the impedence of the speaker in question can have a major impact on the sound of any amplifier type, not to mention, SPL levels, and many other design parameters. High efficiency horn loaded types,Electrostatics,planars, 4 ohm,8 ohm,16 ohm, 2 way boxes, 3way boxes,driver size,bass Q and so on,will react differently with different amplifiers. FOR EXAMPLE...On generic box type speakers with...let say a nominal impedence of 6 ohms and a sensitivety in the average of 88db at 1 watt.One would probably prefer the Class A sand amp at really low volume levels and/or perhaps very loud levels.Another example: Large planars like apogee and magnapan,...require large gobs of current and power to wake them up and generally sound more lifelike at higher volume levels.Hell..the original Quad 57 electrostatic from the 50's still sounds incredible with old antiquated low powered push/pull tube amps! Hook them up with a top shelf modern day tube amp, and the class-A ss amp will sound like it's broken at any volume!.High Efficiency horns are another think piece again...to my ears they sound far more life like with good tube amplification at any given volume level.Your ears,your room...your call.

Although I have made a case for the class A, solid-state amps (earlier in thread), my personal preference is for hybrid amps with a tube input stage and solid-state outputs. My feeling is that this setup provides the best compromise between liquidity and linearity...

My amp is class A to around 50 watts and is SS amp, low level listening in my system is between 50-60db in my room. Every detail is in tact in every way as I listen to Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges this afternoon. That said, the amp is very warm even at this no more than 2 watt output. As far as tube or SS..Timo has the best advice, you should listen in your system at your Spl.

Dave

I have both: a pair of Class A monoblocks and a pair of Class A 2A3 based SET monoblocks. My impression of which is "best" depends on what I'm listening to and what kind of presentation I'm looking for in enjoying music - so all theories aside...

A good example is in how the piano is presented. With the tubes, the so-called distortion gives the piano a warm, pleasing sound that makes it easy on my ears. Very fluid, warm and relaxing. The SS monos (ML 20.6's) takes the piano apart. It gives you everything from the attack on the keys and string hammers, the pedal, the sounding board - everything. It presents a more realistic "you-are-there" sound where you can tell the difference between a Yamaha and a Steinway and the venue it's playing in. It also gives you a the presence of the pianist himself. So if you like to recreate a live performance, the SS mono's do a better job but take away some of the sweetness that the tubes give. Analytical? Yes. Unlistenable, definetly not. Just different.

Other types of music such as orchestra, rock, jazz, vocals, are presented the same way. The orchestra, for example, is better presented with the SS mono's because imaging, depth, instrument timbre is recreated in a way which makes the performance more realistic. The ss has power in spades to lift all the frequencies of the orchestra (macro and microdynamics) so that they are at the same relative loudness levels as the performance. The tube amps will strain under the crescendos and may not catch all the frequencies equally, but it will present an overall sound that is more pleasing, especially during low, melodic passages.

All in all, it all depends how and what you like. Sure, I'd say get both but that's going overboard. You can't go wrong with a pair of good SET's if you are willing to endure their finicky nature, if you don't need wall-shaking power, and are more interested in a pleasing sound rather than acoustic gymnastics.