Switched From Tubes To SS???Glad You Did???


As the title says I'm looking for those who have changed from Tube Front Ends to SS(especially mid level gear)& am wondering if you've been happy with the change,what if anything you miss about tubes & what you've gained by switching to SS.Thanks guys,take care.
freediver
I haven't experimented with new small tubes, maybe they have improved, I've only had luck soncially with older tubes, and even among those, pretty selective (the telefunkens seem to be more my cup of tea). I haven't tried any different power tubes in the Lamm ML2 for good reason- it's not really an option. But, interestingly, I've been experimenting with vintage rectifier tubes in my new phono stage, and there are sonic differences among them.
FWIW, I think everything makes a difference in a system, which by definition, is interdependent on each element.
I thought I would update this as I have just removed the Cayin CS-55 tube integrated amp/Micromega MyDAC & installed a near mint,barely broke in Creek Evolution 50a with the Ruby2 DAC board...
It’s only been an hour now but initial impressions are pretty good.Surprised at the imaging & staging,good depth & width though height seems a bit compacted,tone sounds pretty good but drums don’t seem to have that organic tube sound..Where I hear a HUGE difference is when the volume goes WAYYY up,where my tube amp runs out of gas & becomes glassy & hard the Creek amp REALLY loved the volume,pressurizing the 8" woofer & decent size cabinets of the M30.1 monitors like I haven't heard since I bought them...I'm starting to get a good view of SS/Tube systems...
@freediver  glad to hear.

I have been LOVING my Hegel integrated. That said, got the itch for tubes again so I decided to try a Raven Nighthawk MKIII integrated. The manufacturer claims that its 20 watts will sound like 100 solid state watts. I've also read someone replacing their 150 watt SS amp with it.

Well, I didn't have anything remotely close to the same experience. It sounded very anemic and thin compared to the weight and body my Hegel has at "only" 75 watts into 8ohms. Bass was tighter, faster with more grip and went lower.  Everything was better on my Hegel. I'm sure the Raven sounds wonderful on some other systems, but in mine that Hegel was King.
HI OP,  As many state, I too wanted to live the tube life, sweet rich and non fatiguing.  My first toe in the tube water was PS Audio, where I trialed lower end stuff and ended up with BHK Preamp, BHK stereo amp and DS DAC.  Both Amp and pre are 'hybrid tube designs'.  But I missed the clarity and resolution of other SS stuff I had heard.  I demo'd in my home the McIntosh C2700 tube pre, both with my BHK amp and my SS Classe amp.  It was (to me) less clear and resolving than the BHK preamp.  Then I purchased the AudioNet Pre1 G3.  Wow.  clarity and resolution, non fatiguing etc.  Just takes better SS stuff to get there.  Sold all of my PS audio, and now I hear all the little things, tingly things, soundstage etc.  I do hear uber expensive tube stuff is amazing, but for me, happy with the SS and happy to not mess with tubes. The AudioNet stuff is awesome, and I have on order the Pre G2 and the mono Amps, trading up from the Pre 1 G3 and selling my Classe CA-2300, which is nice, but not as nice.   Oh... and the background is now dead quiet...not so with the PS stuff at all.  I could not handle the background noise.  Ken
I do have issues with my tube smartphone...it seems to be burning a hole in my pants, and waiting 40 seconds to answer a call while the tubes warm up seems to result in a lot of missed calls...it does sound better though.