Describe ube sound vs solid state

I prefer Pass labs over all other solid state. Also over tube sound. Because it has a very musical mid, but a superior timing and speed compared to tubes. Beside this you get a more dynamic sound with more layers. This is price less. When you want a more tube sound, you can add a tube pre amp. Even listening to the best tube pre amp abd power I can audition limitations. As you know I hate every single limitation. In my world there is no room for limitations.

I do not have personal experience with tubes in my own system so my comparison is my long experience with SS versus George Merrill's set up in Memphis. It was not a top of the line Tube system but it was the most musical set up I had ever heard. Pls note , a system IMHO is more than a single component and his components were well matched. It was like live music in a well design music amphitheater. I have put together a pass labs SS class a system with a RCM Sensor 2 phono that is very similar to the sound I heard at George's place. I find the pass SS sound in my system is fast, accurate explosive, but can take on the delicacy of a musical piece like Ravel's Bolero.
I am not trying to hype or review pass labs but rather say SS on Tube systems can sound similar and great. I think it's the art of matching components as much as it's the genealogy of SS vs Tube

My take is different, there is good sound and bad sound. 20 to 30 years ago solid state amps were appalling, and the only solution was to go tube, which is what I did. Nowadays solid state amps are "ube" good, and so I have given up the tube thing.
I would say don't get hung up on the technology, listen and whether it is class A, A/B, D, and the rest of the alphabet, or tube go for the best sound.
The fundamental difference is something to do with distortion and clipping, tubes do it in a nicer way than transistors (even order harmonics). There is a hassle value with tubes, warming up, current draw and heat...and the tubes are constantly wearing out! What always amazes me is people buy exorbitantly priced tube gear, and the first thing they do is roll the tubes:)...like the designer got it wrong>
OK OK I also rolled tubes, it was fun:)
Bottom line is there are good and bad implementations of both SS and tube amps, so one is not necessarily better than the other. Historically there was a time when tubes in general knocked the socks off solid state.

"What always amazes me is people buy exorbitantly priced tube gear, and the first thing they do is roll the tubes:)...like the designer got it wrong>"

Not that he got it wrong, just that the realities of modern production require readily available current production tubes, smaller boutique brands excepted. Some feel tubes from the heyday offer better quality.

This thread seems to ignore the fact that tube amps are more fun. There is no question that good SS amps can, and do, sound fine or often great, but comparisons aside, you generally don't "Transistor Roll" to effect some tonal change because you feel like it...many don't feel like it anyway, and should stick to SS amps...my enjoyment of tube hifi is partly due to the fact that I can see the glow and mess with it for fun...although recent tube purchases are of tubes that don't glow as visibly so there's that, but I still have Mullard Flash for entertainment. SS amps just sit there doing their job invisibly, and except for meters (Pass...good idea) there's no tactile sign of life. Also, I think you can get to some great tone for less cash quicker with a good tube amp, but then I like fun.