I'm totally clueless on this, and a recent thread by LW made me ask the question, can you put it down for a an ignoramous like me ? I'm not on my way out to buy one either, but would be eager t learn some basics.
Boooshpig
Good question.
It all depends on what direction you want to go.
For years, solid state amps with many watts were used to power low efficiency speakers. Now, many folks are migrating back to tube based amps putting out low watts but driving highly efficient speakers.
Most systems will sound better if you make sure the speakers and amps are compatible. I like tubes because they sound better to my ear.
I basically want a system that that covers the entire audible range of the human ear. That means we have a subwoofer that reproduces frequencies down past what we can hear (20 Htz) to what we can physically feel (16-18 Htz). Keeping to the less is more theory, I drive moderately efficient monitors consisting of a 6" driver and 1" tweeter with a low powered tube amp rounded, fleshed out with a REAL quick fully enclosed subwoofer consisting of dual 8" drivers and a huge little amp inside that makes it musically fast as hell. I'd want a cd player that could upsample redbook cd's. As we listen to a lot of commercial dead releases, we purchased a HDCD player but you might not need that or the SACD version, especially until we see what format is here to stay.
I've bought many pieces on a site called audiogon.com. A lot of slightly used, high-end gear can be had at that site often for under half of retail. Another route would be to buy a kit and build your own tube amp. Soldering skills are about all that's required and you can come out wiht a KILLER sounding system for not too high of dollar.
lw
So...
A good sound system doesn't get in the way of the music, imo. You should be able to close your eyes and hear the layout of the soundstage. There should be audible separation between the instruments. The mids should be clear, the highs not too rolled off or brash, the bottom should be quick and deep.
You can get great results from both solid state and tube based systems as long as you make sure you match the speakers with the amp.
On the other hand, a solid state system and speakers with a bunch of crossovers between drivers chops the musical signal into multiple pieces before reaching the ear. These daze, the end results might be fairly similar with tube based equipment, but I do like the theory of getting more life-like sound from a signal which has gone through fewer modifications between the machine and my ears.
lw