Rayooo
Member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2013
- Messages
- 422
- Thread Author
- #1
One of the best amplifiers I ever owned -back in the day- was my trusty old KSA-150.
Powerful, resolving, intense and it had that razor sharp "solid state sound" that you either loved or hated on any given day depending on various things including that days particular music selection.
Some of those early CD recordings combined with my KSA-150 was like staring at the Sun.
It seemed to me that many transistor amps of that time had the same or at least similar ultra crisp, detailed sound. I'd always thought the crispness should have somehow equated to sharp focus, which I never really saw in real life, thus while there was enough detail and sharpness in the high end to cut marble, focus and precise location of voices/instruments could still be somewhat diffuse.
Valve amps always had the reputation of rolled off, often overly sweet, muddy low end.. but somehow quite pleasing to listen to and maybe even more forgiving in many cases of "digital" sound of the day.
30ish years later it seems that both transistor and tube amps have evolved to where both have picked up many of the benefits of the other.
In my case, I've gotten very much improved bass, extremely pleasing detail without the etching and very precise location & focus. While maintaining that harmonically rich & pleasing Valve sound.
While I've listened to far fewer Transistor amps in recent years, it seems they too have tamed that over etching and improved focus all the while keeping that power and control they were/are famous for.
The good news is it seems we can get the benefits of both these days no matter Transistor or Valve with few if any trade offs.
Powerful, resolving, intense and it had that razor sharp "solid state sound" that you either loved or hated on any given day depending on various things including that days particular music selection.
Some of those early CD recordings combined with my KSA-150 was like staring at the Sun.
It seemed to me that many transistor amps of that time had the same or at least similar ultra crisp, detailed sound. I'd always thought the crispness should have somehow equated to sharp focus, which I never really saw in real life, thus while there was enough detail and sharpness in the high end to cut marble, focus and precise location of voices/instruments could still be somewhat diffuse.
Valve amps always had the reputation of rolled off, often overly sweet, muddy low end.. but somehow quite pleasing to listen to and maybe even more forgiving in many cases of "digital" sound of the day.
30ish years later it seems that both transistor and tube amps have evolved to where both have picked up many of the benefits of the other.
In my case, I've gotten very much improved bass, extremely pleasing detail without the etching and very precise location & focus. While maintaining that harmonically rich & pleasing Valve sound.
While I've listened to far fewer Transistor amps in recent years, it seems they too have tamed that over etching and improved focus all the while keeping that power and control they were/are famous for.
The good news is it seems we can get the benefits of both these days no matter Transistor or Valve with few if any trade offs.
