hmmhh, just didn't want to initiate some sort of basic discussion on valves or not, I think we had that already somewhere, I am waiting primarily for Steven's long time research results, because it is that fantastic that he will let us all have part in his experiences... please, Steven, go on with your reports, you made me curious, don't take that really serious here...
but please, allow a few last words to make our position clear: I don't know if it is "music" that we listen to, it should be, yes, but is it? Really ? We only try to reproduce, to reproduce what is given within our sources - and that best way possible... but for reference we take what we hear live, not amplified, but all natural and totally pure: i.e. whistling, handclapping, thunder in a storm, shot of a rifle in two or three meters distance, but as well Anne Sophie Mutter's Stradivari from 1709 in some 7 or 10 meters, or some drums in one meter distance (to get an impression of what dynamic is in reality and what we all do n o t get on the sources that we use)...
and if and when you come in your reproduction - for yourself - to the conclusion, that for example the thunder on Andreas Vollenweider's Behind the gardens... sounds like a thunder, then all is o.k., no matter how and with what equipment you have reached your aim... and if you should have forgotten how a thunder sounds in nature, wait till the next one comes and have a new listen to possibly manage to come closer in your reproduction!
of course, everybody listens on his own, but nobody can talk an "original" "smaller" or "larger" or whatever, and this is our aim, to reproduce exactly that original, maybe sometimes it is music... so if you follow the aim of "reproducing" and not only listen to "music" then go and fetch a triangle and touch it, and then compare it with your reproduction, and then you will see, i.e. how far you are away from "your" original or "your" music, i.e. from what "you" have heard. That's why there is no "different perception" for us, because an original is and remains an original for everyone specifically, if you like it or not, although we know that everybody experiences it differently, so that everybody has its own reference of it - and this only changes while getting older... but that is completely different to that what we buy on vinyl, or CD, or DVD, Bluray... this is more or less limited, altered, compressed, manipulated, mixed up, for car pleasently made "crap" with only very few exceptions, as we all know more than we like...
Did you ever ask yourself why nobody claims for some valves and/or other analogue stuff being integrated into High Definition Television reproduction (I am waiting for that to come) ? Why is nobody any longer screaming for good/old analogue TV with valves? Or for superb analogue VHS recordings ? There is a reason. And the reason is, that the industry - at least so far - has not yet found it necessary to develop the suitable products to get the digital audio content reproduced that way a n d on that level as they have developed it for video/television. It is a pity. For years now. And that is the reason why we have begun do it for ourselves. Having once seen real HDTV nobody will really tell that this is better than analogue? Or anyone? The only thing is: most HiFi fans cannot/will not imagine that digital audio is on the same quality level than video, and this only because the technical machines are not there, i.e. not yet developped to the full potential, but, yes but, it is there...
we have proven that, but I am not a missionary murmering some mantras for myself, but just hinting, stimulating, indicating, not more, but also not less...
perhaps another quote from one of the most ambitious hard core analogue fans that I know of, TwoGoodEars, may stimulate your further thinking:
"...believe me... I guess Klaus reached the very peak of audio reproduction and, amazingly, being there with Doede's 60 TDA 1543's DAC and Bernd's PSU..." and that with no valves at all...
found here:
http://killerdac.com/forum/index.php?topic=60.720and if you should like to follow his development in HiFi, please go here and have a look through the different pages:
http://twogoodears.blogspot.de/and yes, I can recommend SS amps, the ones from Jean Hiraga, for example the ones Tuyen is just working on... things are getting better, right, but these are really good...