Anyone has a reference system where amplification is SS ?

solid state is the only reference!

tube amps

all leak DC and can’t handle many power swings or bass

@pennfootball71  how can a tube amp leak DC, when DC doesn't pass through an output transformer, which most tube amps have.

Its a known fact as soon as you power up tubes, especially in tube amps, they are wearing themselves out.  I don't need that kind of concern atttached to my system. I got more important things to worry about like room conditioning, cabling, speaker positioning and etc.  If i use tubes it will be in low level devices like preamps, phono preamp etc and I will do that. But I still like solid state preamps a great deal for certain music and I have a couple of them as well.

@phd 

Yes, I felt the way you did until I finally bought one… now, I could care less about the wear, or any other theoretical problem. The sound quality justifies it. I now have thousands of hours on tube amps with no failures and no tube changes. 

Personally, I will never have a reference system but will always have a good sound with tube equipment and analogue source wherever possible. The core of any music is in the midrange, and if you don't get it right more or less - forget about the rest. Choice of tubes is very important too, the difference can be dramatic, as everyone knows.