can a tube-o-phile be happy with ss?


I switched to tubes over a decade ago, after realizing that I no longer listened to the stereo because it did not sound like real music and ss and digital were irritating, on a subconscious level. Went to all tubes and mostly LP's. It worked. I even prefer triode with no negative feedback settings, usually. Now ss has supposedly improved, and its advantages beckon, e.g., less heat, electricity and trouble, better bass and perhaps more detail and clarity. Have any of you voluntarily gone back to the dark side and been content? (with the understanding that it never really ends, for an audiophile). On an unlimited budget one might have few complaints, but this question is necessarily in the context of a semblance of fiscal sanity, not top of the line Boulder, Ayre or Zanden.
128x128lloydc
Ojgalli, I can hear live, unamplified jazz on a weekly (or more) basis if I want to, and for a long time I did.

(Now - most of the time I prefer the smoke-free environment of home, where SETs and vinyl make the experience as life-like as possible!)

However, this tubes vs. solid-state business is gross oversimplification. There are solid-state amps that sound more like single-ended triode tube amps than many other tube amps, for example.

Topology - single-ended vs push-pull - and negative feedback are actually more important criteria than hollow-vs-solid-state output stage.
I just traded my beloved Cary V12R amp for a brand new Cary 120S. It is hooked to a Cary SLP98P preamp. I'm into my 2nd hour of burn in and I can't beleive it'll sound better in another 98 hours. It sounds fantastic already. All I can say is that I am lucky to own one! Maybe someday I own a tube tuner, cd, tt, and even tube speakers. If we can figure out how to air condition any of these these things, we'll get rich. Good luck to all, ss or tubes.