high power tube amps vs ss

Me too regarding Nelson Pass designs. One of the few SS designs that to my ears really get closer to making music sound real other than , to my ears, a tube solution (preferably of the OTL variety) ideally matched with the speaker. It always comes down to synergy when making choices and this is not so easy. There are many speakers with difficult load characteristics that are superb that will not electrically match with tube amplification. There is no simple answer to this complex paradigm. Melding components together in a manner that makes recorded music sound real is not easily achieved by Tube vs. SS discussion, too many factors involved in the equation that is evidenced by the same questions continually being asked, IMHO.

I really appreciate the contributions of Almarg and Atmasphere (Ralph) to my better understanding of these issues.

"My questions is: is there anything to be gained by switching to these higher power tube amps over ss amps?"

Maybe or not. It would all depend on what you specifically are shooting for and how well what you have meets your needs or not.

I do not consider Dynaudio speakers and tube amps to be a natural match by design in general, and would not do that without hearing first but that's not to say you might not find something to like there if you heard it.

I do not consider Dynaudio speakers and tube amps to be a natural match by design in general, and would not do that without hearing first but that's not to say you might not find something to like there if you heard it.

Agreed- in spades!

I would venture to guess that Al, but especially Ralph believe it's not possible to arrive at life-like sound without tubes given some of their prior posts. To that end I would like very much for either/both to cite some tube amps that are as fast as any ss amps they've heard so far. Imo, you can't get there without serious speed in an amp. For me it's 'the' most important factor. I really don't care what else it does well or poorly (within reason). And I don't care about published specs.

Csontos I would venture that the Atma-sphere amps, which I have heard in several unfamiliar systems over the years and in my experience the Berning zh series amps are as fast and transparent as any ss amps I am familiar with. Check out Berning's website for the numerous reviews of these amps to get an idea of their performance characteristics.

I have owned and been listening to the Berning zh270 for 11 years and the comments you have made above regarding tube amps in general are true in many instances but certainly not all. This amplifier rivals any ss amp I've listened to with reference to transient attack, pitch definition and bass control.