TUBE AMP LOVERS - What SS amp makes you smile???

Expecting SS amps to sound like tubes could be due to the incessant use of the term "tube like" in the hype chosen by many SS amp manufacturers…actual tube circuits just have that "tubey thing" which has been described frequently by tubers (like me, and the peanut family of plants), and having experienced tube hifi as far back as the mid 60s I can safely say SS has obviously made its place as a more powerful (generally) and reliable (sometimes) thing. I heard a First Watt amp in a friend's system and it did seem to have some sonic warmth that was appealing as Pass is clearly a great designer…and listener…but certainly if you want "Bang for the Hifi Buck" you can't go wrong with tubes…unless you don't want the hastle of tubes…in which case many thousands of brands of SS amps obviously can sound fine. Just not so tubey...

I still think although clearly SS amps can sound fabulous…tubey or not…tubes allow an easy path to amp tone manipulation that can simply be more fun than otherwise…otherwise being the fact that most tone freaks are unlikely to try dropping various tone bending replacement parts in a SS amp. It might be true that Western Electric vintage cable helps SS amps, but you can also simply put tubes around your SS amp (get 'em to glow somehow if you can…LEDs maybe?) and you might "feel" more tubey. A tube hat also can help. Earrings? One more thing about tubes…as a nearly 5 decade pro guitar player, I've tried various SS amps and although I use a Class D amp for bass (gigantic power in a little head…and everybody needs a little head), I've never been able to cop the vibe of a great tube amp with any modern "modeling" or whatever SS amp…I currently prefer a 15 watt push pull 6V6 and a class A single ended EL84 17 watter. Grease with glimmer...or something.