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

I’ve had both all SS & tube.
I now have both - tube preamp & SS amp.
I think you need tubes in the system.

I prefer in the preamp cause you can use NOS tubes & the cost is way less than power amps.

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

You might be surprised to find that tube amps can manage a load like that. IME many people think ESLs are inefficient and difficult to drive but I find that isn't completely true- they are often more efficient than thought, and their load can be problematic for certain amps, depending on the ESL.

You are quite right that the dip in impedance occurs at high frequencies (plus a low down in the bass where they don't reproduce a signal much at all)  I have Martin Logan CLS (original). I did try  CJ Premier 11a on them and while doing a pretty decent job, it fell short of the Classe DR3 VHC I currently run on them, despite having 45 w as opposed to 70 w from the CJ.

OTOH, that same CJ is magic with my main system Wilson Maxx2, having plenty of punch.  Not as much as the Roland 5 I was using with them (now doing AV system service) and the bass is not as convincing, so those organ LPs could use a bit more grunt, but on most acoustic music, magic.  So much so that I haven't bothered trying a couple of other power amps I have (bridged pair of DR3 VHC and a Belles A) on that system - too busy listening happily to tibes.

kosst_amojan
Dear God.... That staid dogma about tubes Geoff just spouted is such obtuse nonsense! All this magical jazz people attribute to tubes has practically nothing to do with the tubes themselves. It’s far more a product of the topology. Plenty of solid state amps make that case.

Did somebody forget to take his smart pills? I never said I was talking about the tubes themselves, silly goose. I actually already made that very clear. Besides it was not (rpt not) dogma, anyway. I acknowledged that solid state has some strengths. It’s not all black and white in my world as it is in yours.

Solid state has relatively better THD numbers than tubes. OK, I’ll grant you that. Of course everybody and his brother knows THD doesn’t really mean anything. 🤡