Transistors Are Better Because...

User211 · Oct 18, 2009

See the "Tubes Are Better Because..." thread. Tongue-in-cheek, but a bit of fun, I thought.

Go on then, solid state supporters, they are better because...?

FISH_MAN · Oct 18, 2009

solid state is better primarily because it is cheaper and smaller. but I still prefer the tubes for now.

miljac · Oct 18, 2009

1. Less pins to worry about.

2. You can drop them from 1 meter height without worry.

3. The voltages used are lless likely to throw one across the room after having made a mistake

4. They are environmentally friendly - are powered by blue smoke that is captured inside (once it escapes the transistor is without any power)

5. Great for powering the bass drivers on MLs.

6. Transistor Class A amps warm the room in winter

7. A transistor in class A gets the cooler the louder you play

amey01 · Oct 18, 2009

They don't require any SQ-sucking output transformers!.........and before anyone says OTL, how many of those are there on the forum?

DrJRapp · Oct 18, 2009

They will sound the same tommorrow, next week, next month, next year and five years from now...tubes are always changing, especially near end of life.

risabet · Oct 18, 2009

1. They are more environmentally friendly.

2. When it is 100 degrees they don't add much heat to the room, A/C or not!

3. They work fine forever, at least IME.

4. The wife and kids can actually turn them on w/o fear of exploding tubes (hyperbole!)

tonepub · Oct 18, 2009

At the upper end of the price spectrum (unfortunately) I'm definitely enjoying solid state more than tubes, because the top shelf SS gear has all of the delicacy and finesse of my favorite tube pieces, with a lower noise floor, more dynamics and more control.

The bad news is it costs big dough.

Love the Burmester 011/911 mk. 3 combination, the new McIntosh 1.2kw power amps, The Burmester 067 integrated, The Luxman L-590A II integrated, the SimAudio Moon W-7 monos and now the new Vitus SS-050.

And best of all, no more chasing NOS tubes.

I still have a tube phono preamp though for that one drop of tubiness overall.

But now my system is limited to a 12AX7 and a 12AU7. I can live with that.

TomD · Oct 20, 2009

Some reasons why transistors are better:

1)I can afford them and, 2)they are in my home. (i know - selfish reasons)

Feltran · Oct 20, 2009

Smaller, cooler, cheaper, longer lasting, and I'm not afraid of them. Seems like a pretty conclusive list to me!

JonFo · Oct 21, 2009

Performance consistency would be my #1 reason.

Not only over the life of the unit, but also across a wide load spectrum.

SS amps (up until their limits) generally are able to maintain a consistent distortion profile at varying output levels (volume) and across varying reactance levels (handling back-EMF from the capacitance of an ESL is a big one for us).

Of course, there are many SS designs, and some of them are quite innaproriate for the type of load an ESL presents.

But really well designed class-AB amps (e.g. Sanders Sound Systems) handle it fine.

And my favorite topology, class-G (e.g. Sunfire), also do extremely well with ESL's.

A common thread here would be amps that deliver very high current and handle low impedance.

As Jeff noted, just don't expect a well designed SS amp to be cheap. Handling high-current is never going to be low-cost.

RoboRob · Oct 21, 2009

JonFo said:
As Jeff noted, just don't expect a well designed SS amp to be cheap. Handling high-current is never going to be low-cost.

Is class D here an alternative??? (I haven't had a chance yet to play with a class D setup)

Feltran · Oct 21, 2009

RoboRob said:
Is class D here an alternative??? (I haven't had a chance yet to play with a class D setup)

The traditional view has been that Class D amps can't really compete, but I have read a few different reviews about a few different products in which the reviewer said that they had changed their opinion about Class D amps.

I myself am strongly considering switching from my Sunfire TGA5200 to Rotel's new RMB-1575 Class D amp.

risabet · Oct 21, 2009

Feltran said:
Smaller, cooler, cheaper, longer lasting, and I'm not afraid of them. Seems like a pretty conclusive list to me!

Don't know about longer lasting. I have a Dyna Stereo 70 that is at least 40 years-old and still works fine.

Gordon Gray · Oct 22, 2009

tonepub said:
At the upper end of the price spectrum (unfortunately) I'm definitely enjoying solid state more than tubes, because the top shelf SS gear has all of the delicacy and finesse of my favorite tube pieces, with a lower noise floor, more dynamics and more control.

The bad news is it costs big dough.

Love the Burmester 011/911 mk. 3 combination, the new McIntosh 1.2kw power amps, The Burmester 067 integrated, The Luxman L-590A II integrated, the SimAudio Moon W-7 monos and now the new Vitus SS-050.

And best of all, no more chasing NOS tubes.

I still have a tube phono preamp though for that one drop of tubiness overall.

But now my system is limited to a 12AX7 and a 12AU7. I can live with that.

Why is it Jeff that you never make any reference to or, at least recognize, the existence of Pass Labs?

PS: Frankly, I don't much care about your feelings / opinions regarding Pass Labs but I, as well as other MLC members, recognize that this Company makes some very musical sounding SS gear at a somewhat reasonable price.

Gordon

tonepub · Oct 22, 2009

Gordon Gray said:
Why is it Jeff that you never make any reference to or, at least recognize, the existence of Pass Labs?

Gordon

Nelson Pass is definitely one of my heros. Used to own some Threshold back in the old days and really liked his First Watt amps. The current Pass stuff is decent, just not at the top of the list of what I'd consider a SS amp that has the magic of tubes without having tubes under the hood. It's still an amp that sounds distinctively solid state to me.

I loved my first watt F4 though. That was one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard, period. Used to have an Aleph too. That was a sweetie as well.

Feltran · Oct 22, 2009

risabet said:
Don't know about longer lasting. I have a Dyna Stereo 70 that is at least 40 years-old and still works fine.

Ah but the threads are, strictly speaking, about transistors and tubes, not the amps they are a part of. I'm assuming the tubes in that Dyna Stereo 70 have been changed more than once.

Rvega003 · Oct 22, 2009

Jeff I think you may have opened Pandora's box with that last post. I can hear the faint rumbling of an oncoming stampede of angry MLC members who own and have very high regards for Nelson Pass's current pet project. I'm going to sit back and enjoy what I think is going to be another possible great MLC S*** storm.

DrJRapp · Oct 22, 2009

Rvega003 said:
Jeff I think you may have opened Pandora's box with that last post.

I don't think Jeffs comments were meant as deprication of the current Pass product as much as an overall commentary on the quality level of the truely higher end stuff nowadays.

Not that any of us can afford or have even heard the truely higher end stuff!. Jeff has a different perspective since he gets to hear everything that most of us will never even get to see.

Craig · Oct 22, 2009

Feltran said:
Ah but the threads are, strictly speaking, about transistors and tubes, not the amps they are a part of. I'm assuming the tubes in that Dyna Stereo 70 have been changed more than once.

I have tubes that are 40 years old and still sound great.

I don't see what the big deal is with changing tubes. It's about as challenging as changing a light bulb. My tube amps are auto-biasing so no fiddling required there.

Not all tube amps are lacking in bass nor are they all lacking highs. On the same note, not all SS amps are lean and dry. These are merely old paradigms that don't apply to certain high quality modern tube and SS amps of today.

Audioseduction · Oct 22, 2009

Craig said:
Not all tube amps are lacking in bass nor are they all lacking highs. On the same note, not all SS amps are lean and dry. These are merely old paradigms that don't apply to certain high quality modern tube and SS amps of today.

Well said! Did I tell you all I do LOVE my Pass Labs X350.5! I feel it has the fine details of a SS and the sole of a Tube. I say Pass Labs amp mate with Logans like bread and butter. How sweet is that? :music:

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