"Keith G" wrote in message
...


Dear oh dear...

Trust me, you were missing the point - you were talking about "The sound
that issues from a loudspeaker is not an illusion, it has an
objective physical reality." in response to my point about the *illusion
of reality* (instruments, voices, whatever) in the sound created by a
system.

So why didn't you say that before, if that was your point? It is, if I may
say so, a particularly pointless point.

OK?


Consider this also - I have and use *both* valve and SS amps; I have and
use *both* vinyl and 'digital music'. OK? And you use what...??


Are you trying to suggest that I am not perfectly familiar with those
things as well? what arrogance!


I don't do arrogance (or hubris either)

No? then someone else writes your posts for you.

- the question is clear: What do
you use?

Use for what?

IOW, how ancient are your terms of reference?

Very recent thanks. (days rather than weeks)

Too many people with current opinions based on distant memories and
experiences (whether real or imagined) to take them seriously, I find....

Ah, the old "if other people had as much knowledge/experience of the subject
as I have they would agree with me" conceit.


It's because I am perfectly familiar with vinyl and all the distortions
that it generates that I know just how much worse it is than CD.


In your opinion

No only my opinion of course, and it is unarguable that CD produces
negligible distortion compared to vinyl, so unless you are arguing that
distortion is a *good* thing?

means nothing to me....

Clearly it does, otherwise you wouldn't keep responding to me

But *good* valve
amps are as good as good SS ones, just more expensive and less reliable.


No, lets shoot this one through the head, if nothing else - budget valve
amps are no more expensive these days than their equivalent SS amps (check
eBay), 'boutique' valves are no more expensive than 'boutique' SS and
no-one (other than good budget Jap like Sony) has any greater claim to
reliability - starting with Arcam, here in the UK....

Clearly the word "budget" means something different to you than it does to
me. There are no valve amps that fit in the "budget" category as I would
recognise the term. But it seems improbable that valve amps can be sold at a
similar price to SS ones, valve amps include inherently expensive components
(output transformers, larger mains transformers, high-voltage capacitors
etc.), furthermore they require a more labour-intensive manufacture. Yes I
know that Chinese labour is relatively cheap, but all the same.

As for claiming similar reliability, words fail me! My Quad 405 has been
sitting in the corner of my sitting-room for 25 years running the sound
system in that room. In that time it has been powered up for about 100,000
hours, yet has never required any maintenance whatsoever. This is the sort
of reliability that is normal from SS equipment, but has never been on offer
from valve equipment.

David.