solid state vs tubes

"It is true that the soft clipping of tubes means you will get less of the odd-ordered harmonics, but this has nothing to do with dynamic range."

Less loudness cues perhaps then. If you perceive the peaks as less loud because that is how people hear, that would seem to infer that the dynamic range is affected, at least as perceived, since the peaks do not seem as loud anymore, just as those nasty loudness cues due to negative feedback that you are focused on make you perceive things as louder as you describe. Two different things causing perhaps opposite effects in regards to how loudness cues are "perceived"? Only one is adding and one is subtracting. I suppose the truth lies somewhere in the middle then when negative feedback is applied appropriately to not produce the undesired side effects.

Compare the 'best' with the 'best' and see....and not just the amp, but an entire system.
Source, pre/amp and speakers.

I'll bet the BEST of each when properly matched have much more in common than differences. Some of these esoteric differences which I see bandied about, may be unheard in a 'best' system.

Even the best tube amps will fall flat with highly reactive loads of huge impedance swings, while SS has its own limits, maybe when dealing with single driver / full range speakers.

hi magfan:

you make an interesting point regarding differences in sound between "the best of the best" ss and tube amps. i agree with you, but i suspect that such differences will probably be detectable in most cases.

i think it would be interesting for a designer to try to duplicate what bob carver did years ago, when he "fooled" a panel of stereophile's "golden-ears", when he designed a ss amp that could not be distinguished from a cj tube amp by that panel ?

obviously, a particular tube amp would be selected as a bench mark and a ss amp would be designed to sound like the hypothetical tube amp.

can anyone do what bob carver did, again ?

Interesting Mrtennis. It makes me wonder: Do you think there a single set of speakers and components that are capable of revealing everything that the finest examples of each design have to offer?

I suspect, but don't know that the differences between current source and voltage source amps....and the speakers they go BEST with would preclude a single system with 'plug in the amp' testing possible....at the highest level.

As near as I understand it.....Carver nulled the amps by somehow comparing thru a single speaker. When the speaker made NO sound....or some large value 'down', they amps were producing the SAME sound. The louder the speaker, the greater the difference between amps. This is the source of the 't-mod' which was part of my now ancient Carver Cube, the M-400t.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but just for example, when the speaker being used was say......nulled to -60db, you could say they were the 'same' to 1 part in 10,000 or some such.

ONE possible flaw in this ointment is that of the speaker used. If it was a highly reactive load, the tube amp would not be at its 'best' while a speaker of the single driver/full range persuasion may put the SS at a disadvantage. I doubt there is an 'easy' or even 'best' answer here.

Buy / run / listen to, whatever floats your boat. Play safe, eat slowly and chew well. don't stay out late and respect your elders.