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Poll: How Much Longer Before Solid State Amps Are Obsolete?


Macintoshmaster

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But SS amps are good for nothing other than beginners as they are cheap and low maintenance.

 

 

exCUSE me??

 

lots of bass amps are solid state and sound great....in fact one of the best sounding bass amps in history is solid state....the Acoustic 360.

 

most keyboard amps are solid state....just not the ones in Leslies, cuz Hammonds sound great when you get the tube amp in the Leslie to start growling.....

 

there will ALWAYS be a place for amps such as the Roland JC120....and the Standel's.....jazz guys LOVE them.

 

they just aren't that great in the rock game.....but there's LOT's of uses for them

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exCUSE me??


lots of bass amps are solid state and sound great....in fact one of the best sounding bass amps in history is solid state....the Acoustic 360.


most keyboard amps are solid state....just not the ones in Leslies, cuz Hammonds sound great when you get the tube amp in the Leslie to start growling.....


there will ALWAYS be a place for amps such as the Roland JC120....and the Standel's.....jazz guys LOVE them.


they just aren't that great in the rock game.....but there's LOT's of uses for them

 

 

 

 

The sound of a SS bass amp does not even compare to a Valve amp.

 

I will never buy a SS amp.

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I use tubeworks MosValve poweramps in both of my stage systems. They sound great, I don't have to worry about tube life, impedance worries, and they weigh a fraction of a tube amp.

I used to use Marshall Monboblock poweramps till I had one fry, and I borrowed a MosValve from a music store. Both bands I was working with at the time preferred the tone better than the marshall, and it had much more volume. I sold the marshall after it was repaired and bought two mosvalves with a ton of cash left over which I used to buy another guitar. Many years later, the Mosvalves still work flawlessly. It's a shame that they were discontinued.

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No. Perfect for ultra-clean (i.e. sterile) tones and take pedals very well.

 

 

 

 

SS amps have no "SOUL" because they sound ultra clean. Distortion pedals are crap unless you get a pedal with a tube in it... I prefer pedals like chorus, reverb, phaser etc on a valve amp. Listen, the best things are:

 

1. Valve amps

2. Analog pedals

3. Cassettes

 

 

If you have these 3 things in your life you will be happy!

 

 

 

(p.s cassette player running through valve pre-amp!)

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I voted the same in both polls.

In this case, solid state amps will be around after I'm gone because I think their best days are still to come. There's a ton of room for improvement, and they're only getting better.

Tube amps peaked a long time ago. If tube amps are getting any better (and you could say they are), it's in small steps, not giant leaps.

I think this is an easier choice than the tube amp poll, actually.

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Ty Tabor's early guitar tones with Kings X, were pure solid state, and was dripping with tone, and soul as well. He used to hide his amp in the backline so no one would find out he was playing a Lab series amp.

Making blanket statements is pointless. There are also many tube amps that sound like crap as well.

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Yes it is - SS are not as good as VA (Valve Amp)

 

 

I didn't say they were. I said SS amps are getting better all the time, and their best days are ahead of them.

 

But who's to say SS amps couldn't be just as good or better than tube amps one day? I think there's a lot of still-unrealized potential in solid state.

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Electrical power will be very limited in 30 years. We'll be more concerned with finding food and clean water than playing guitar...and Taylor Swift will be declared a national treasure and win the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award...all this will come to pass...

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Do you think with all the great tone of the tube amps that solid state amps are doomed to extinction in the near future?

 

 

One big problem with your theory, buddy.... maintenance. Solid State amps are very reliable when it comes to gigging and taking abuse. Tube amp's have a lot of things that can go wrong with them, and are costly to repair. Solid State will always be around, simply because they are cheaper to make, and more dependable. I'm not going to say they have better tone than tube amps, but solid state isn't going anywhere.

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But who's to say SS amps couldn't be just as good or better than tube amps one day?

 

 

Because its physically impossible. SS are just transistors and VA are Valves - come on, who are the kidding. It's like analog vs digital - However good digital gets even if the sample rate is 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 x 999999999999999999 Samples per second (Which it will be one day) it won't be as good quality as analog. Close, but not as good. It's like saying - will robots ever be as good as humans - in some ways yes - better at maths etc but they will never be creative or think for them selves unless a DIFFERENT "technology" is used like putting a human brian in a robot.

 

 

Here are the grades on amp

 

3rd place - Solid Sate

2nd place - Valve State

1st place - Pure Valve

 

 

If there was only SS amps I would give up playing guitar (or go acoustic)

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Electrical power will be very limited in 30 years. We'll be more concerned with finding food and clean water than playing guitar...and Taylor Swift will be declared a national treasure and win the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award...all this will come to pass...

 

 

 

Solar Powered Valve Amp

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Because its physically impossible. SS are just transistors and VA are Valves - come on, who are the kidding. It's like analog vs digital - However good digital gets even if the sample rate is 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 x 999999999999999999 Samples per second (Which it will be one day) it won't be as good quality as analog. Close, but not as good. It's like saying - will robots ever be as good as humans - in some ways yes - better at maths etc but they will never be creative or think for them selves unless a DIFFERENT "technology" is used like putting a human brian in a robot.

 

 

But you're arguing sound quality alone. That's one part of the argument. Theoretically, if a solid state amp can get within six sigmas (~99.9999%) of the sound quality of a tube amp, to the human ear it's a tie. Then you have to judge by other factors, and then it becomes much harder to judge tube amps as the winner.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love tube amps. But I don't have a horse in this race. :poke:

 

I think you're a little quick to write off solid state as a failure. SS amps have already shown strength in numerous applications, they're getting progressively better, and they're not going away.

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