That "tube sound" and power ratings

If anything, the move to tube amps in the last 30-40 years has been for the things that tubes do that are difficult or impossible for transistor amps. I don't see audiophiles that are into tubes doing it for any other reason then they want to get as close to the musical experience as possible.

I really don't think you have to know anything about tubes, how tube amps work or why people use them. All you really have to know to understand that they work really well for music, is that over half a century after they were declared obsolete, they are still around- and we still play them and even the tubes/transistor debate is older than many audiophiles! IOW the economics tells the story!

Ralph,
That sums up my preference for tubes. The only criteria that matters, the more natural sound quality.

Want to thank the OP and contributors, really enjoyed this thread.

"That's not the same thing. In the studio, what you're talking about above is signal processing. Its part of the creative process. Playback gear's job is completely different. The idea behind that is to reproduce the original event as accurately as possible. Making your amp distort on playback goes in the opposite direction of that goal. You don't want you home audio system to distort because you want to reproduce whatever is on the recording as best you can. Even if its distortion. "

That's definitely true that in the studio it's processing the signal - but at home, tube amps are often doing the same thing. It is a form of distortion. Not all tube based systems distort this way, but I do see lots of listeners using underpowered amps for the speakers they have.

Tubes are a great way to emotionally get close to the music - I think of tubes as a way to create an illusion that performers are in the room with you - but I never think of this as accurate or neutral - but it can be very involving...

Most SS based systems I have heard over the years were underpowered in terms of achieving optimal performance not on purpose but for not knowing any better and/or not having many practical and cost effective options available, or people just being satisfied and it just not mattering much.

Same true I suspect with tube amps. It's not that tube amp lovers seek distortion, but rather that it similarly may be even less of a real issue for some due to the more benign sound of soft clipping.