TUBE AMP LOVERS - What SS amp makes you smile???


I'm looking for input from tube amp lovers that have switched from tube to solid state amplifiers and not looked back.

What tube amp did you move on from?

What SS amp provided the same level of musicality, keeping you smiling for the long-haul?

Thanks.
barrelchief
07-19-15: Geoffkait
Sorry to burst anyone's bubble but there is no such thing as a SS amp that sounds like a tube amp. If you believe there is I have some Florida swampland to sell you. It's simply one of those oh, wouldn't that be nice beliefs.
+1
The Great American Sound (GAS) Son of Ampzilla. This was my first amp in the high end arena and I have held onto it all these years. I have been through many others, both tube and solid state, and there has never been that feeling of, Oh, I just can't bear to part with it. After pulling the Son out of moth balls for so many years, I was able to establish what this amp did that others didn't; the entertainment factor of the Son was so much better. It was sent off to GAS Audio for a reference rebuild and it is so much better. It is so much better that I haven't even started work on my Golden Tube Audio SE 40 Special Edition putting in a full-tilt Sonic Craft mod.
Going on 2yrs with the new CJ MF 2550se after Classic 60se. Never looked back. Musical and gets the bottom octave right.
Geoffkait hit it right on the sweet spot. Note how never have tube amps been called upon to sound like solid state amps but the other way round is ubiquitous. What chases what? Let's get real, the only advantages solid state amps have is longer term reliability before parts need servicing
And perhaps heat generation. I used to buy into the current doubling thing when I was in my Bryston, Krell phase, but that ship sailed a while ago. Tubes from here on or until they make them no more. Nothing sounds better to my ears, especially the midrange.