TUBE AMP LOVERS - What SS amp makes you smile???

I have to remind myself that 'tube like' is a truncated expression that is missing the words 'but NOT tubes'.

You can't have your cake and eat it, it's either tube or it isn't tube...lol.

I just sold my Ampzilla 2000 monoblocks and Ambrosia preamp combo and regretted it the moment the deal was finalized.

That pairing gave me the most musical pleasure outside of listening to a good tube setup.

It's going to take a special amp to replace that pairing, probably a tubed integrated or perhaps a hybrid.

Another consideration for 'tube-like' that I could live with in the long haul is the CJ200 control amplifier which I owned for a while, or maybe something from Odyssey.

Whatever internal mind games we play to trick ourselves into believing that some piece of solid state gear can do what a tube amp does, is basically folly.

Tube-like but not tubes.
Analog-like but not analog.

If you can live with the compromise, fine.

I still think although clearly SS amps can sound fabulous…tubey or not…tubes allow an easy path to amp tone manipulation that can simply be more fun than otherwise…otherwise being the fact that most tone freaks are unlikely to try dropping various tone bending replacement parts in a SS amp. It might be true that Western Electric vintage cable helps SS amps, but you can also simply put tubes around your SS amp (get 'em to glow somehow if you can…LEDs maybe?) and you might "feel" more tubey. A tube hat also can help. Earrings? One more thing about tubes…as a nearly 5 decade pro guitar player, I've tried various SS amps and although I use a Class D amp for bass (gigantic power in a little head…and everybody needs a little head), I've never been able to cop the vibe of a great tube amp with any modern "modeling" or whatever SS amp…I currently prefer a 15 watt push pull 6V6 and a class A single ended EL84 17 watter. Grease with glimmer...or something.

So where can you buy this wire that's so special? Aphiles would like to know. :-)

I searched for several months for a new set of speakers and found that the McIntosh C50 pre amp and MC452 power amp combination was one that seemed to make even the most "unforgiving" speakers sound great!

I was fortunate to find on Audiogon that pair, about 4-5 months old at the time, for a reasonable price.

I recently received my new Focal Sopra No2 speakers, with that beryllium tweeter, the McIntosh electronics sound smooth, like tubes. I'm very happy with this setup.

NO SS amp can compare to my SETs...NONE..