You made a good choice buying a less-expensive amp to start. Let your ears grow into it and then you'll be in a better position to decide on whether you want to stay with tubes or not. Tubes are not a panacea for the audiophile. Like with vinyl, the more obsessive are always living in a constant state of anxiety of whether they should roll the tubes, whether a tube is deteriorating, etc. These are not concerns with SS. Less choices = less anxiety for some. Also, at least with my amp, it takes almost an hour to sound its best. Sometimes I wish I just had a SS amp & CD player I could leave on all the time and still have optimum sound.