"t.hoehler" wrote in message news:5zKuc.24791$js4.14920@attbi_s51...
Owning a high end tube amp
is akin to driving a high end sports car. If you want the perks and tweeks
to always work well, you must be willing to put up with slightly less
reliability and a little more on-going maintenance which is not inexpensive.
But, for the people who enjoy and want the tube sound, I suppose it's worth
it. Owning a ss amp is like driving a Toyota, it _may_ not give the best
performance always, but it hardly ever breaks.

IMO, a more apt car analogy is a tube amp is a kit car like an FFR
Shelby Cobra replica, where a SS amp is a factory production car like
a Corvette. The kit car doesn't really have better performance, just
more character. It's for the enthusiast who likes owning a unique hand
crafted piece of engineering art and is willing to give it the extra
TLC it requires, even though it offers no real objectively measurable
performance advantage. It doesn't get around the racetrack any faster
than the Vette (it may even be slower), yet it gives the driver a more
visceral experience and a bigger grin on his face.

OTOH, if you're the guy who just wants to have a competitive car to
win his season trophy, doesn't want to mess with it too much, doesn't
care about owning a beautiful piece of art or the visceral wind in the
face experience, then the Vette (e.g. solid state) is more suitable.