Poll for your dedicated 2.0/2.1 music listening setup

[mike c]

Poll for your dedicated 2.0/2.1 music listening setup do you use a tube amp or simply a power amp?

 

[furrycute]

Tubes cost an arm and a leg. For the same amount of money, I'd rather go solid state.

 

[mike c]

hmm. so the cheap (500USD) tube amps are not gonna sound nice?

people say they want tubes is because the power amps doesnt have some sort of "distortion"? that apparently makes the music better. hmm

 

[Sheep]

hmm. so the cheap (500USD) tube amps are not gonna sound nice?

people say they want tubes is because the power amps doesnt have some sort of "distortion"? that apparently makes the music better. hmm

Apparently, Tubes offer nothing solid state maps can offer, cept a higher price.

If you really want the sound to change, buy different speakers.

SheepStar
(This thread might start a flame war )

 

[dsa220]

I don’t think that you can fully answer this question or make the pole limited to two answers as there are so many variables, first and foremost people’s biases to take into consideration. Let’s face it, some people will not listen to a tube amp no matter what; the same can be said by tube aficionados with respect to solid state equipment. Both groups need to re-evaluate their positions in my opinion.

Over the years, I have had several different incarnations of equipment in my two channel set-up until I settled in on my current configuration, tube pre-amp with solid state amp; it has been the most chameleon like in character and as non-fatiguing and listenable as any system that I have previously heard in my room with my speakers.

The order of preference for the other set-ups:

Tube pre-amp with tube amp
Solid state pre-amp with tube amp
Solid state pre-amp with solid state amp

 

[mike c]

so dsa, having both, you can comment on the difference. is it all about listening fatigue? (solid state amps have this? because they reproduce the music perfectly?)

 

[PENG]

At the same price point, say start from $2,000, tube amps will most likely have higher distortion numbers. Their distorted sound, if not excessive, is more pleasing to hear. You may get fatigue listening to solid state amp sound all day, but you wouldn't want to have someone playing a violin in front (live) of you all day neither, no matter how good he/she is.

 

[dsa220]

so dsa, having both, you can comment on the difference. is it all about listening fatigue? (solid state amps have this? because they reproduce the music perfectly?)

Not sure what you are asking here. First things first, listener fatigue is caused by many things, improper speaker placement, poor use of tone controls/equalizers causing the amp to be overdriven, listening at levels higher than the equipment/speakers/room can handle, etc... Both solid state and tube amps can cause listener fatigue, no magic here.

Neither type of amplification (tube/solid state) 'reproduce the music perfectly'; this is a fallacy that simply does not exist. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and it is a wise engineer and enthusiast who know how to use each type of device to there advantage. Please understand that I could care less what the internals are made of, be it tube, solid-state, discrete or IC, to me, just to measure well is not the entire story. To me, there is such a thing as ‘system synergy’ in a good audio system, regardless of what some may say.

As far as commenting on the difference, that is something that is hard to do. There are aspects of music reproduction that I may find more important than someone else. To me, the musical message, the interplay between the musicians and a good sense of timing are more important than a system that reaches down below 20Hz. I am of the school that believes that if you get the frequencies from 30 Hz to 13.5 kHz right, the rest is will take care of itself. I seriously doubt if anyone hearing a system that met that minimum requirement without knowledge of forethought would not walk away enjoying what that audio system will do, play music, end of story.