Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions CD Player - CD-A8T, Tube/Solid State HDCD

Mike, the basic object of an amplifier(or pre-amp)is to amplify without adding any audible sonic characteristic of its own(the proverbial "straight wire with gain"). If an amplifier doesn't meet that standard, then it doesn't fully qualify as a high fidelity component. Both transistors and tubes act as valves to measure out the amount of power needed, and correct tube design can be competitive with solid state design in achieving audibly flawless amplification. Using tubes doesn't necessarily cause a higher level of second harmonic distortion if a balanced push-pull configuration is used. The tube design would still have 3rd and other odd orders of distortion, but it might have an even higher 2nd order distortion if not designed to minimize it. This is apparent from lab tests on amplifiers, such as those on SoundStage, showing either higher or lower 2nd order distortion, depending on the total design, not whether tubes happen to be employed. As the Stereo Review amplifier test which has been frequently cited illustrates, there's no necessary "tube sound".