SS amps that sound like tubes?

I've been collecting audio toys for years. Currently I own a few small tube amps, and one solid state amp. For a long time I always thought "Solid state. Why do people bother ?". Powerful yes, but afflicted by dry, lifeless transistor haze. Either too edgy and bright, or so toned down you ventured into midfi. Music on a really big black and white tv.

I've changed my opinion in the last year or so. The truly great ss amps don't sound like tube amps so much as solid state with great soundstaging, instrument timbre, and lack of transistor grain. I would guess that many people could not tell by ear that an ayre or pass labs amplifier is NOT a tube amp.

Strangely enough one of my friends who is a college trained sax player commented that he liked the 'sound' of my cary 300 B amp, but felt the ss ayre sounded 'more like a real horn'.

By no cigar I do not mean to say that SS amps do not sound great - some really sound great - in fact a lot do - just not the same as a great tube amp. Some people prefer the SS sound and I have also in some cases against some tube amps but my taste is for the really good tube amp over the SS but not always by much.

STOP this SS-TUBE fight over here! I've seen it b4 a bunch of times already. It is absolutely useless. I could never say that SS sounds like tubes but there is no matter SS or tube rather it can or cannot perform the task for a particular speaker.

yes it can no it can't
yes it can no it can't
yes it can no it can't
yes it can no it can't
yes it can no it can't
!@#$%^&*((*&^%$#!@#$%^&
!@#$%^&*((*&^%$#!@#$%^&
!@#$%^&*((*&^%$#!@#$%^&
!@#$%^&*((*&^%$#!@#$%^&
!@#$%^&*((*&^%$#!@#$%^&

If I had to pick a SS amp that comes close to the tube sound it's the Mcintosh 352. They are after all famous for some of the best sounding tube amps in the business. I own the 2102 and the 352.

Spectral