General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: God turntables sound freakin' good [View all]kysrsoze
(6,019 posts)What makes tubes amps so special (unless you like to play super-clean - and they're still excellent) is that the distortion is intentional and so well done (3rd and 4th order harmonics generated by the tubes make them sound so great). I went from solid state to tube and there's no comparison. I've been told there are excellent solid state guitar amps for a hefty price, but I've yet to hear one. Tube amps as a whole sound awesome, and i understand the technology enough to know that a good hifi tube amp will have outstanding fidelity and sound quality.
As for the medium, I love the warmth of vinyl, but CD and HD formats are also extremely good and devoid of mechanical sound influences (wow/flutter/scratches/dirt/cartridge and needle type, etc. I think what everyone who considers him/herself even an entry-level audiophile, is how much mp3s, and other lossy formats sound like garbage. 320kpbs is pretty good, but anything below 256kpbs is not very good. 128 is passable for your crappy earbuds or your bluetooth speaker, but high bitrates sound that much better on them.
There's really nothing like listening to a record, CD or HD Audio on a good system. I think they both have their advantages.