Oh they do have different distortion spectra, but if both are operating under enough headroom, distortion, regardless of spectra, shouldn't be a significant factor. Even I, SS guy that I am, like tube distortion better than solid state distortion. But what I really like is inaudible distortion.
Tim
We do know however that distortion is present and we don't need to approach clipping to for it to be there either. The spectra is commonly associated with "texture" audio following what guitar players have known instinctively all along. What's curious to me is why there's so much focus on the output devices and not the whole circuit. Now more than ever, one can fins SS amps that sound tubey in the traditional sense and tube amps that sound very solid state again in the traditional sense even if tube types or transistor types are the same.
The convergence is also happening with source equipment as Mark also pointed out as an aside. This points to what Sean Olive and Paul Barton have found, that people regardless of experience level or training know good sound when they hear it. If this is so, then this also suggests that despite the advances, sound reproduction is really still in its infancy because there are still so many correlations to be made in order to fully map out or model human perception of sound.
If Mark is a bit shaken, then that's still a good thing. Paradigm busters are always a good thing IMO. Whatever he prefers at the end of it doesn't matter. What matters is whether he'll end up listening to music more and the sound of his equipment less
Personally, I never assess an amplifier based on its performance with just one loudspeaker, even if it is a high powered amplifier that should be able to drive anything. A case in point is my Lamm M2.2 amplifiers. I've tried them with the infamously power hungry Infinity IRS IIIs, Harbeth Super HL5s, Maggie 1.6QRs, VR-4jrs, 3 generations of SRs, VR-5s, 9s and 11s, even the 99dB sensitive semi active DB-99 SE all to very good effect. In a bookshelf shoot out done in a recent Philippine Hi-Fi Show, various other dealers asked that our room be used being "neutral" territory. The contenders were the B&W 805, Monitor Audio Platinum, Usher Tiny Dancer, and Focal (forget which model). They are now partnered with Magico Q5s at a friendly dealer's showroom. That's a lot of speakers.
I did hook them up to LSA2 Standard towers (which I carry) which were designed to work with the beastly LSA Amplifiers just 70 wpc down in output and the M2.2s made the LSA2s sound like the woofers would jump out of their spiders and the baffle would burst. Even at moderate levels the sound was boomy and chesty. Now is that an inditement on the amp or on the speaker which performs very well for the money from Marantz receivers to more exotic SS and Tube amps? I really don't know.
All I am sure of is that if you own LSA towers be they Standard or Statement, the Lamm M2.2 sucks and you should save 15 grand and get the LSA Standard amp or 11 grand and get the LSA Statement amp. Heck save 20 grand and get a Marantz receiver.
Synergy is NOT a dirty word.