Sacrilege Going from Tubes back to Solid State

Not one solid state amp I have owned or heard sounds even close to a tube amp: Odyssey Stratos Extreme Monos, McCormack DNA-2 Platinum, McCormack DNA-500, McIntosh MC7200, Bryston 4B SST, Bryston 14B SST. The same applies to chip amps: NuForce Reference 8, CI Audio D100, CI Audio D200.

The closest to a tube amp I have heard is the hybrid Moscode 401HR.

I have not heard Pass Labs, but I'd like to do so.

TVAD, you being a tube guy I am not at all surprised by your response and many tubeaholics will agree. If and when Meadowman moves from tubes to solid state the best we can suggest is what solid state amp will be the least offensive. You know, I would like sometime to try a Pass Labs myself. I personally know one member who purchased a Pass Labs amp and swore he would never sell it, he did. Maybe he purchased the next higher model, I'm going to ask him.

10-27-06: Phd
TVAD, you being a tube guy I am not at all surprised by your response and many will agree.

It's interesting to me that I have been an Audiogon member for 3 1/2 years, and I have owned solid state amplification for nearly half that time, yet I am considered a tube guy. I presently own a SS/tube hybrid amplifier, so perhaps I am a hybrid guy, but thankfully the hybrid amp has he realism that tubes bring. It's true that I prefer the sound of tubes at this moment, but I have experimented with solid state and chip amps during the entire time I have owned tube amplification. So, consider me a tube guy with an open mind to other possibilities, which I have proven with the purchase of the 401HR amplifier.

When it comes to what creates something approaching the sound of real music in my system, tubes do it.

TVAD, I came to that conclusion based on some of your past responses and now stand corrected. Well my friend it is good you have an open mind.

I think there needs to be some distinctions made here. "Tubes" and "SS" cover a very large range of amps and some are very similar and some are not. In my experience thus far, SET tube amps have a special quality that I have not found in any SS amps yet. Not sure what to call it but you guys know. At least Tvad does.

And then there are some SS amps that are very good at coming close to tube sound. It is all relative and I find that the speaker being used plays a big role with how the amp will sound. Some push-pull tube amps are not that distant from the average SS. Much closer than the SET crowd gets for instance, but even within push-pulls there are big differences.

At one point, I was using a CJ MV55 tube amp. Nearly everyone will tell you it is the quintessential tube sound. Well, I have yet to find another tube amp that sounded like it! In my system, matched up with my Audio Aero Prima and my Triangle Cometes, it had a clinical resolution, well damped bass and a slightly dry character, with a lack of developed timbral color. Putting in my MC240 gave me smooth resolution and coherence, somewhat soft bass, a liquid midrange, and much improved timbral accuracy.

And yet, my McIntosh MC202 gave me pretty much what my MC240 gives me but with slightly better transparency and tighter bass. The CJ was not like either of them! You will just have to experiement with your own system and see what you find out.