Its a mix period, both can fail to find the optimal natural sound. I think the current 20 year period most have felt that Tube pre + SS Amp is the best overall compromise. I can agree to a point. But I have heard some SS Preamp's sound a lot more Tube than even Tubes! By the way some Tube preamps just have way to high output impedance and put on a low input impedance SS amp like a 10k ohm will many times sound very thin or not hit that bottom octave very well just as a tip.
Engineering of the circuit design, and matching it to the synergy, and characteristic's of the system are key. Its a whole, no one component will stand on its own including cables, or speakers so you need to narrow down the field quite a bit to get that end result, which is why Audiogon stays in business obviously as people trade out weekly on gear trying to get that "Magic" number or result!
It can get pricey, once you spend it all and come back to simplicity again many times sounds even better, but you will all spend more than you like, and maybe come full circle back to a realistic system and fundamentally well designed system.
It has less to do with power classes, A- A-B, Tube, SS whatever, even digital vs. Analog. And some recordings will just not perform in some amplification schemes the way you would like it too.
My suggestion don't have bias toward any direct topology the music needs to play correctly that's the only measurement that will ultimately satisfy whether you end up SS or Tube.
