high power tube amps vs ss

Hearing issues come from sustained high levels, and unlike something like a gunshot next to your head, a short musical burst (from classical music for example) isn't going to hurt you usually...sitting next to a loud drummer might not be a good idea though...I know from what I speak. Also, the "speed" term makes no sense to me when applied to electrical signals flowing through an amp...I wonder if you even CAN measure the speed of a signal from input to output...I want to know if my tube amp is getting musical notes to me in a timely fashion!

Well Wolf, "speed" is another of those audio terms that is hard to define other than to say you certainly recognize it when you hear it. Much of it to my ears is MOST readily recognized in large scale acoustic and choral music with wide and varying dynamic shadings and tones. A "fast" amp seemingly resolves the leading edges of instruments without softening or rounding off, an effect I hear primarily with OTL tube amps, a greater transparency and resolution of all the musical information on the recording. The ability to resolve dynamic shadings without the sound congealing or dynamics compressing. Now as noted by Charles1dad there are amps that are considered "fast" in this manner but miss the subleties of tone and true and accurate pitch of instruments which can, to my ears, lead to fatigue. When the pitch of instruments sounds natural and more like what you hear live and the subtle dynamic shadings and sense of space is preserved, it just sounds more real.

A good test is listening to large scale music at lower volumes and hearing all the information, including bass, preserved as it is at higher volumes. This is definitely an area where "fast" OTL tube amps excel over most if not all transformer coupled tube amps and SS.

Thank you Tubegroover and Al. I didn't mean to challenge you as I expected a relatively immediate response. But I do think you two are most precise in defining speed as I put it. Judging from your responses it's fairly clear that it is in fact a technically quantified attribute and therefore realizing it is not subjective at all. The reason I don't care much about specs is because amps don't necessarily live up to them. But I am aware of which ones they are. As you stated, Tubegroover, 'you know it when you hear it'. Why someone would hear it but not prefer it is beyond me. I'm willing to wager there's not a high end amp out there without this quality, without which a lot of other attributes are down the toilet.

Hi Tubegroover,
Yes you certainly understand the point I was trying to express.Components that emphasize the attack, "lighting fast trsnsients" but fail to maitain note substain and decay sound artificial. This type of presentation is incomplete and therefore less convincing and falls short in realism.As you said that type of sound(speed?) causes fatigue and soon boredom follows.The sign of an exceptional component is one that preserves the timbre,pitch,tone and harmonic overtones that naturally exist in music.This would reflect correct timing and music`s instrinsic speed and flow.
Regards,

Good tube amp setups I have heard are excellent at both "attack" or sudden transients and "decay", especially with acoustic music.

Same true of SS.

The lesser setups, both SS and tubes, are of course less successful, though the tube amps probably have a better chance of retaining interest musically still when things are not going so right.