LSD-Studio
HCAF crusher
I guess I just have different expectations from amps... like 'doesn't have to sound like a tube' or something along those lines. Tubes just don't do anything special for me.
Which Crates did you have, and did you run them through anything but the stock speakers (like impulses) for very long? Those speakers aren't the best, by any shot, so trying one of the Evolution 5 amps into a good cab or impulses might be a pleasant surprise.
Jeff
When I studied physics at the university I've had the exact same opinion (at least for the first 3-4 semesters) thinking "why are ppl so stupid, all the downsides, non-linearities...", "a transistor can do all the thing a tube can but more predictable and cheaper"....
then I learned more about acoustics and the human physiology and realized that the human ear/brain processes those linearities differently than more "diffuse" stuff and that for the human ear it's those non-linearities that make a sound "warm" and "pleasing"...
that doesn't contradict your physics and you ARE ALLOWED to like tubeamps without looking less "smart" and you can still be aware of all the physics and downsides behind it

No shit!