The ups and downs of tube vs. SS...

I agree with jsm71, pick your speaker first keeping in mind that the more inefficient the more power required from the amp. Not only that but impedance dips may further require more current demands from the amp. I personally prefer speakers that are efficient making low to medium tube amps an ideal match. Yes, some ss amps can sound very good but the better ones, to my ears, are either lower powered class A designs, or for greater power requirements, Class A/AB. Neither of those choices, the best examples, are cheap but can sound excellent. 

The fact that you have to replace tubes is part  of the deal. If you don't want to bother, you go ss or go with a tube design that have long life outputs, i.e Berning, Music Reference, many SET designs, my ancient McIntosh MC-60s and many others.  Remember this as part of the debate, do you ever hear "great tube amp that reminds you of the best SS designs" the best complement for either might perhaps be "this design really make the debate of ss vs tube a moot point". All said and done I am still in step with my monikor, ymmv.   

Tweed,
Tubegroover makes two really salient points,
1 Proper speaker and amplifier mating is mandatory, it truly is the metaphorical marriage. A high  quality tube amplifier can sound poor with the wrong speaker choice.

2 There are definitely tube power amplifiers that are very easy on tubes and there are tube with inherently long tube life. In some cases you can go years before having to change these tubes. For one example I currently use a tube (EML XLS 300b) where older versions are approaching 40,000 hours of use and yet continue to test new! That’s a lot of years of music loving enjoyment 😊. I believe for another example that the Atnma-Sphere OTLs provide long tube lifespan. These in addition to what Tubegroover mentioned above.
Charles

Two audio shows really shaped my opinions on tube gear. One was a single ended symposium put on by Stereophile mag in the early-mid 90's in Philadelphia and it was the first time I heard SET gear. That day I heard 845 amps, 300b, 211, and 2A3 amps from very well known designers. They were all incredible sounding but the one that caught my ear the most was the least expensive and lowest powered amps the FI 2A3 monoblocks. At 3 wpc, they were able to fill a 40 x 40 room with 104 db horn speakers.

@lou_setriodes , I'm betting that this show was actually the Philadelphia Triode show and it was more like about 1998 or so. I was at that show (and played our amps), and the speakers used were made by what is now known as Classic Audio Loudspeakers, and the Fi was indeed quite impressive. I thought it was the best sounding of all the SETs presented.

I swing both ways.

SS is suitable for headbanger music that requires huge current input, but can also work well with acoustic music if you choose the right amp.

Tube amps are lower output and tend to soften transients (a gross generalization, but...) while presenting a very fluid replication of the music.

Both will work, but how well depends on the rest of your system.

I drive some very inefficient electrostats that have impedance curves that drop to 1 ohm with big class A power amps.

I listen to my main speakers (92 dB) using a 70 watt tube amp that sounds just delightful despite a part of the range being at 3 ohms or a bit less.  When I switch to video use, I switch in a power amp that puts out around 400 watts.

define what sort of music you listen to, and how efficient your speakers are and that will tend to indicate what sort of power amp you should look at.

30+ yrs ago I had a major love affair with tubes in my big living room system: 2 X RM9 tube amps; each w/a pentode/triode switch at base of each of the 8 tubes (EL34 or KT-88). Had a big SS amp on the subs, tubes on everything else...+ a VTL "Ultimate" preamp (tubes).

What is it about tubes? Easy to hear, not so easy to describe. It's a quality of dimensionality, 3D sound from each note. You hear the body of the violin, the rosin on the bow, not just the sharp starting transient of the note. The notes are in space, and there's space around the notes.

Yes, tubes cost. And yes, they tend to poop out a bit on the very bottom and top. Top isn't a problem, since so much else in the stereo chain is over-hyped in the treble to begin with. Bottom can be a problem--that's why I segregate deep bass w/subs driven by SS.

All these years later, just bought my 1st desktop/headphone audio tube unit, a Woo WA3 OTL headphone amp w/preamp outs. It's burning in. Even listening on the "wrong" headphones (ones that aren't high impedance), I can already hear those familiar 3D notes.