What year did tube lose to SS

Let's not kid ourselves ... 99%, if not more, of what we use in our daily lives is solid state driven ... start with the PCs that we are using to view this thread. What portable devices are tube driven? 'Lost' may not be the best choice of words, but please don't think that tubes rule just because we purchase the occasional EL 34 or roll some NOS 12AT7s for more midrange bloom

Regards,

Rich

I know this is an old thread but I didn't understand you contrasting tubes and transistors with analog and digital. Both tubes and transistors are fundamentally analog devices (although either can be used in digital circuits). But to your question, tube lost to solid state on day one if a more linear response is the only objective.

Tubes lost to solid state? Who knew???

The next question is; when did class D supersede class A and A/B? ;) 

Decades ago I worked in sales at a high end audio dealer in DC.  I'll never forget how the B&W folks who visited were "concerned" over how dull their flagship model sounded in our showroom, drove all over DC to find replacements for the power amp tubes (can't remember which amp), once replaced, the speakers sounded awesome!

With that in mind, I've shied away from tubes....until a few months ago.  Some of my audio buddies worked on me to consider getting a tube preamp, letting me know that in low power applications, tubes would last a long time.

I replaced my solid state preamp with a tube unit and immediately enjoyed a more musical "bloom", especially in acoustic piano.  Now that I've swapped out the original equipment tubes for better models from Russia, this preamp just sounds awesome!