Again, 2x6spds - neither Alan (if I can speak for him) or I are against tubes being used for amplifier circuits, we've both only pointed out that the "warm" and "organic" sounds, while pleasing to some people's ears, technically are distortion, if you view a sine wave amplified by S/S electronics against one amplified through tubes, you'll see that the fundamental is more clearly defined through solid state electronics, and yes, it can be accurately visualized. Use a tone generator and an oscilloscope and you'll see.
On the recording side - the drawback to transistors (and to be balanced, they're not perfect either - there is no free ride) is the harmonic distortion that is developed when they're overdriven, it is odd-order distortion, which is non-musical, but under proper use, this should be minimized - but sometimes "Audio Engineers" don't pad mics on brass, jazz vocalists or percussion and it happens, but the technology can't be blamed for operator error.
The audio world has gone through some changes for the better in the last 10-15 years, loudspeaker response curves have become much flatter as the science comes of age. Ever noticed that receivers don't ship with 15 band graphic EQs anymore? The technology across the board is getting a lot better at faithful reproduction of source material.
As for alienating tube owners and Alan "shutting down his opinion generator" - the reason I and others are here is that the truth is debated, there are few "yes men" here. You like your sound, congratulations. But for myself, I'm not about to renounce the fact behind technology in order to make someone feel better about their decision.
Bren R.
