Why do Tube Amps sound more romantic v SS amps


Question newbie on tube amps, why are tube amps according to people who own them say the sound is more say romantic sound vs SS amp ? 

What is better to own cost wise sound advantage single ended and push pull ?

Thanks guys excuse my inexperience on the tube issue.

128x128aseaman007

For nearly forty years my system used tubes of various sorts.  About 2016 or so I was using two pair of Cary Audio 2a3 SET monoblocks to amplify the midrange and super tweeter horn drivers in my triamplified fully horn loaded DIY speakers.  Then I read the Six Moons Audio review of First Watt F3 single gain stage, single ended, Class A, JFET output transistors amp.  According to the reviewer the F3 was the first SS amp to better SETs at their own game.  Unseen and unheard I bought a F3 from Reno HiFi.  I was so pleased with the SQ I bought a second F3 stereo amp and used them to replace the Cary Audio 2a3 monoblocks.  I have never regretted the change.  The First Watt F3s have all the immediacy warmth and romance of the SETs plus better resolution, transient speed musically appropriate detail.  Also I certainly don't mind  avoiding the hassle of slow tube degradation and the need to search out good 2a3 bottles at affordable prices.

Maybe I should have tried the F3.The F7 was a miserable disappointment with my high efficiency speakers.

....why are tube amps according to people who own them say the sound is more say romantic sound vs SS amp ? 

General statements about the sound qualities of individual designs are a little too broad sweeping. You really have to evaluate each component for yourself and find a sound that you prefer. If you want a recommendation for tube gear that sounds romantic or one that sounds dry, there are plenty of examples of each out there. 

what is “”than that”, atmasphere?

Push-Pull amp tubes misbalance cause increase of odd harmonics, even 5% misbalance is causing more that 0.1% dist. increase easily.

keeping tube amp in a good performance condition is very costly, period. if not, you’ve got a “romance”

@westcoastaudiophile 

The statement to which I was responding mentioned that bias would be shifting in as little as 50 hours as well as resistors and capacitors. The simple fact is any tube amp is far more stable than that.

FWIW an imbalance in power tubes will cause a 2nd harmonic, not a third. The push-pull nature of the amp will cancel a lot of it but some will still be present due to the mismatch itself. Also FWIW dept.: the 3rd harmonic is treated much the same way by the ear/brain system as the 2nd in that it tends to be innocuous. Like the 2nd it does have the advantage in a tube amp of masking higher ordered harmonics- that is literally why tube amps tend to be smoother than traditional solid state (class D amps can make lower ordered harmonics in the same way, so they can share this characteristic with tubes depending on the design).

You are right about tubes being costly! They have always been expensive, which is why high efficiency speakers were so common back when tubes were the only game in town.

This is a question, I’m presently having a problem with. 
For the last three years, I’ve really enjoyed using a tube pre (Audio Hungary) with a tube amplifier (PrimaLuna) with my Sonus Faber (Sonetto lll) speakers. I love this combination as Sonus Faber speakers seems to “love” tubes and this combo has great synergy in my room. I recently got curious and wanted to try a ss amp. I  just purchased a Bryston 2.5 cubed amp (for small 14’ x 12’ x 8’ room) I can’t quite wrap my head around this amp. For example, I have two or three go-to female vocalist tracks (one is- Sam Brown’s solo on PF’s live (“The Great Gig in the Sky”) that literally gives me goosebumps or makes the hair on my arms stand up every time I play it, with the tube amp. I’ve yet to experience the “hair on my arms stand-up” playing this track on the Bryston ss amp? Thoughts?