Transients hurting my ears on hifi solid state amps

But you already have the PrimaLuna and like it?
The reviews and measurements in stereophile look good.

If the main reason to move away from tubes was the heat, then I am not sure it will get better.

It seems like a sideways move to me.
But I’d probably trade my PrimaLuna for a Pass.

It is indeed in part a sideways move and that's why I would ideally find a class AB solid state option. However, heat wasn't the only reason to move away from tubes.

Other examples were the one-minute warm up time during which the amp is on mute, having to switch it to my preferred triode mode, having to keep it turned on in case I want to use it again in the near future, as each cycle damages the tubes and because you need to wait for a certain time before starting it up again to save tubes.

There are also security concerns with children and just the hassle of tubes: their long-term availability, searching for the ideal NOS tubes, finding the best combination, etc. Some people like tube rolling and the possibility to adapt the sound to their liking, but I would prefer an amp with no tweaking possibilities that can be just left as is. I'm being very negative here, but it's just to make the point regarding the accumulation of things that have been bothering me at different points. I do love my tubes in guitar gear (including in various pedals) and wouldn't ever imagine going solid state there, but it's just a very different use case.

The Pass lacks auto standby, which is its biggest drawback. But you can turn it on and off with the remote any time without needing to worry about hurting any component of it. And if its left on unattended, there's not the same danger as if a tube goes bad. But the current draw and heat at idle are definitely concerns on the Pass. To me, it would at least be a pretty good step in the right direction in terms of what my concerns are with my PrimaLuna, even though it's not ideal as you point out. In addition, I do believe, and hope for the price, that it would be a move up in terms of sound, as you also allude to.

You mention the Stereophile measurement look good, are there aspects I should look out for in measurements that could help me identify the amp that might work for me? I've never really tried to understand measurements.

Ok - WRT my contrarian and questioning post, it looks like you’ve thought it all through.

well done sir!

This is caused by higher ordered harmonics that are part of the distortion spectra of the amplifier. In this case, those higher ordered harmonics are not masked by the lower orders. The ear is keenly sensitive to the higher orders as it uses them to sense sound pressure. It also converts all forms of distortion to a tonality; the higher orders are interpreted as 'harsh and bright'.

@atmasphere 

You are obviously very knowledgeable about this, so I would like to ask you a follow up question about this:

Since the OP is referring to "transients", could it also not be due to his amplifier using excessive loop negative feedback, which might be causing Transient Intermodulation Distortion?

Thanks @holmz! ;) You're completely right to question my choices and conclusions, that's often the most helpful thing to do. I do tend to overthink things as you can see, but it definitely doesn't mean I'm necessarily right.

Since the OP is referring to "transients", could it also not be due to his amplifier using excessive loop negative feedback, which might be causing Transient Intermodulation Distortion?

I really appreciate all the technical discussion as I'm not knowledgeable about those aspects at all and it would be great if that could help me identify the right amps for me.

Something more reasonably priced and class AB would still be the ideal option, even if I catch myself dreaming about Pass Labs and other amazing amps like that.