I generally agree with what "tube-like" means, and it is not a favorable idea. I once had Western Electric 91B amps. They were rolled off beginning at 13k and had little bass below 50 Hz. This is not to say that I have never heard a tube amp that did not sound "tube-like."
Similarly, I generally agree that there is a solid-state sound. It use to be quite common in transistor gear, but there have always been exceptions to this in solid state gear. The solid state sound is graininess and harshness, most evident in the high end.
I don't think these distinctions get us very far, as many solid state components don't sound solid state and many tube components don't sound "tube-like." Nevertheless, in my experience there is a pretty strong relationship for tube gear to be "tube-like" and solid state gear to sound edgy. Fortunately, there are exceptions.
I have problems with characterizing sound as "musical' versus "analytical" also. Musical is not necessarily a good thing in my mind. Many say we cannot achieve realism and should be happy if our system gives us an emotional or satisfying musical presentation. I know that you can achieve the magic of realism, and I will not be satisfied with just "musical." Realism is not "analytical" either. Usually, I have found that "analytical" is an error in optimizing the system, such as the wrong VTA, poor isolation, or bad cabling.
There are some who hate silver interconnects as too bright. I generally prefer silver interconnects but have also heard great sounding copper interconnects. I tend to not like gold interconnects, platinum interconnects, and amorphous metal interconnects, such as the Indra, but I resist generalization here also.
It really comes down to what you hear and what you hope to hear. Finally, I am always quite aware that there is little or not consensus on any topic or component. It is quite obvious that tastes differ greatly. At it root this suggests that there really is little purpose for Audiogon other than to report personal experiences. Certainly, I have much experience with reporting my personal experiences only to have others tell me that I am delusional as what I hear is impossible. Right now I have been involved in commenting on the benefits of Walker Audio Step Four in cleaning records. I hear a great improvement over the previous three step cleaning. Some say that is impossible as pure water cannot be improved on. Observations have always had greater credence to me than theory. I will keep using Step Four and allow the doubters to not hear as good a sound as they might.
