Hi Gents

I haven't been on here for a while but the last couple of posts concur with my views.

Yep, I'm sure cheaper valve (tube) and solid state amps do sound different. Valve amps by nature (predominantly even harmonic distortion) tend to sound less objectionable, I think we all know that.

For instrument amplification such as guitar or Hammond organ, valves are normally preferred simply because "valves misbehave more gracefully than transistors".

However, Marshalls and Leslies aren't "HI-FI" and the intention should be that a good quality amplifer doesn't "misbehave" at all. So, as the quality increases the differences should become less and less.

Some of you will remember that I have always been a vinyl advocate but that's not in small part due to having about 2000 LPs.

I do own a good quality record player but the sound's not all rose tinted like the archetypal1970s players - tonally, it's pretty dammned close to my CD player.

The trouble is that vinyl vs. CD is a flawed and unequal contest because you can't get good results from vinyl on the cheap - it would cost about ten times as much to replace my record player (cartridge, arm, turntable, pre-amp and power supplies) as it would my CD player.

If I was starting out now without any music recordings ay all, I doubt very much if I would bother with vinyl.