wrote in message
oups.com...

I have a suggestion for him to prove his point without fail. It is an
article of faith in the chapel that tubed amplifiers are worse than
Solid State and that SET tubed amplifiers
are the worst of the worst.

Set amps are the result of a well-studied attempt to do just about
everything wrong when it comes to building an amplifier.

From "good" to "very. very bad" there should be an "audible difference".

Stereophile magazine has provided information about how SET amplifiers vary
their frequency response with loudspeaker load. In contrast, the frequency
response of a good SS amplifier varies only slightly with a loudspeaker
load, again accordiing to Stereophile measurements.

As a rule, a SET amp's frequency response variations with a loudspeaker load
fall well outside the range of variations that are audible. Hearing the
difference between a SET amp with a loudspeaker load and the proverbial
straight wire should be quite easy. This contrasts with good SS amps that
are difficult or impossible to distinguish from a straight wire, even with
fairly taxing loudspeaker loads.

If the "test" with his improved
protocol fails to make a decent-sized average audio buyers panel hear
that difference with statistical validity then what is the point of
it?.

This would have been demonstrated years ago, but for the fact that nobody
with a brain would buy a SET amp, and it takes a fairly good brain to
organize a good DBT.

My guess is that if he ever takes up the bet he will get another null
"The majority heard no difference" outcome.

Put a worthy bet in escrow and send me a SET amp. I'll set up a
straight-wire bypass test with a loudspeaker-like load and post the results
on www.pacbx.com . People can listen and reach their own conclusions.

But there is another terrifying scenario: They heard the differnce AND
liked the SET better. Horrors!

It takes a pretty blinkered mind to want an amplifier that clearly and
audibly colors every sound passing through it.