High End Tube Gear Transition to High End SS

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).

Thanks again, you guys. I am learning a lot here. I will make but one change soon, and that will be speakers.

Lou_setriodes, I appreciate you sharing your experience and completely agree about aural memory. And, I can see myself easily becoming a "habitual changer" and do not want to go there. :)

My goal with the speaker change is to remove the two large floor standers from our living room and I hope this will make it much easier to simply sit and enjoy music. I've been cautioned by a trusted dealer NOT to get rid of the MFA tube gear. He, too, said I'd regret it. I built a very heavy but attractive audio rack a few years ago, and all the gear, while hardly unobtrusive, sits on the rack in a purposeful way. The rack is in a corner so it's a reasonably tidy presentation, and not in a visual or traffic path.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Larsens and will let you know how that goes.

I am not going to perform any tweaks or any other changes until I've lived with the new speakers for sufficient time. This should be quite fun and at the very least, interesting!

I agree, I would not touch the MFA gear it is classic tube gear and the preamp was especially very highly acclaimed. What kind of output tubes do the mono amps have? I am not as familiar with them, but remember reading incredible things about your preamp. Would love to see pictures of your system and room when you have an opportunity.