Sound of tube amplifiers

["Linda A. Seltzer" <lseltzer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Recently I found myself in an "argument" with someone
because I expressed the view that I still prefer
the sound of old tube amplifiers.  The opposing view
is that someone did a study years ago on tube
amplifiers vs. transistor amplifiers and found that
the transfer functions could be designed such that the
two would be indistinguishable by audiophiles.  I
wonder if anyone can suggest literature citations on
this topic - have any experiments or any expert ear
opinions been published on this subject?  I remember
tube amplifiers as having a "warmer" sound quality.

Thank you for any information/opinions.

Linda Seltzer
lseltzer@phoenix.princeton.edu

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