"David" wrote in message
...

Btw - what thousand pound amplifiers have a several percent distortion?

Single-ended triode amps do - and they can cost a *lot* more than
that!

But what are we measuring? Valve "distotion" is viewed as a rosie glow.
Transistor x/over or switching distortion in a poorly designed (or
over-driven) solid state amp of only a few 10ths % is unbearable!

Not all distotions are created eaqual - but they are all deviations from
the
"straight wire with gain" model of the "ideal" amp.



Which doesn't exist or ever will - it's up to the individual to make the
necessary trade-offs between 'accurate' and 'pleasant' to listen to in terms
of 'distortion'.

My own view (surprise surprise) is that valves and analogue, while
supposedly less 'accurate', are *far* more pleasant (and a lot less tiring)
to listen to than SS/digital in any form (which is downright unpleasant by
comparison IMO). Where simple 'pure sound' is more important than
'musicality' (Saving Private Ryan for example) I find digital/SS is plenty
good enough - much the same way that the speed/convenience/economy of
digital photography outweighs the faff, hassle and expense of the 'wet'
process for me, these days.

(No-one in his right mind though is going to suggest that 'digital' will
ever match the sheer quality of a top notch Hasselblad/Zeiss T* or Leica B&W
bromide print though, despite that in terms of 'hue', if nothing else, it is
immediately a lot less 'accurate' than a colour digital photo from the
outset.....)