High End Tube Gear Transition to High End SS

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. The more I think about "my situation" the less inclined I am to change electronics. The MFA gear has been extremely reliable and has required little more than basic maintenance during the many years we've enjoyed it. The upgrades I had Scott Frankland perform were beyond what was "necessary" but something I elected to do. Even it their original form, they sounded great.

Russ69 suggested I clean up my set-up, which I have been doing. A fine idea! The TT is a Rega P5 and does not disappoint. CDP is a Shanling CD-T 100se, a very nice unit. IC's and speaker cable are by Grover Huffmann. Great wires at a great price. They just get out of the way and let the music speak.

So, that leaves the speakers. As I mentioned, I expect to be auditioning a pair of Larsen 6's soon. The reason I'm interested in those is that they are smaller than the Chapmans and are designed to be placed against the wall. Hence, they will be much less intrusive, and, if I like the sound, the days of toe-in are over. No more searching for the "ultimate sweet spot." :)

Our new living room/audio configuration dictates I sit fairly close to the Chapmans and it's not an ideal situation. I'm too aware that the music is coming out of boxes. This is NOT the Chapmans' fault, but it's how I have to arrange the room. A dedicated listening room is not an option. I will, however be installing a couple of dedicated electrical lines now that my wife and I have agreed on the room arrangement.

You guys are really helping me to sort things out!

See Ps, all you REALLY needed was a bit of encouragement to talk yourself out of it, good decision and continue to enjoy with your wife!

Ps-

for a tubed integrated- I can suggest Audio Research and Rogue Audio-

for solid-state integrated- Pass Labs. Keep us posted on your situation. Happy Listening!

Get a Class A Accuphase or Luxman integrated. These are the top 2 integrateds, imo.

My suggestion, from a habitual changer of gear every few years or less, is to make 1 change (just change the speakers if you are so inclined) and then live with it for a few months. Otherwise, if you make multiple changes at once, say electronics and speakers, you won't really know which one is affecting the sound.

And live with the change for a while. I've noticed, and believe, we all have an aural memory. When you make a change, for better or worse, our ears remember the old sound that we used to have. It takes a while to get used to the new sound and forget the old. If you've had tube gear for years and are used to that sound, to change back to SS is a very big adjustment to make. Personally, I would not recommend it.

If it were me and I had tube gear for years and wanted to change electronics, I'd get other tube gear or a tube integrated. From personal experience, I've made the change many times from tubes to SS and every time, I've regretted it. Unfortunately it was done more out of necessity than anything else. I'm a tube guy at heart and when I go SS, I end up having the itch every few months to want to get different gear; however, whenever I've had tube gear, I'm content not to make any changes for a much longer period (5 years or more).