SS amp - which one ???

At That price,McCormack,Belles and Bryston would be a good place to start and dont forget the ARC 100.2.Comes in at 1500-1600 used,cheers,Bob

There was a used Modwright KWA150 for $3K here (no association whatsoever with the seller), which is an absolute steal for that amp. That's been the only SS amp that's kept me not wanting for tubes. I would say it gives a nod to tubes, but it sounds neither strongly tubelike, nor SS. It reminds me of tubes in the beautiful, natural, non-fatiguing midrange, but its command of the low end and the soaring highs speak more to SS. Disclaimer: Modwright is a client. Another great one but up in that same price range used is the Ayre V5Xe. At $1500, I'd probably agree with Tvad - you'll be back to tubes as I can think of nothing in that range (that I've actually heard myself) that would keep me from going back to what I could do with $1500 in a used tube amp (Grant, if that's a blanket statement, as you might guess, I'd have to disagree with you there...I don't think that's a given, at least not in my experience). Anyway, closest things I can come up with at $1500 and under are a Pass Aleph 3/30/5 perhaps...Bedini 25/25 (be aware that older SS amps may need some investment in new caps). Those amps did not keep me away from tubes though. No idea how they'd mate with the rest of your system. I'm surprised by a few of the recommendations. I guess it has to do with synergy and personal experience, but I don't think Bryston, Odyssey or Parasound have ever brought a tube amp to mind in hearing them (I've listened to all three pretty extensively, and owned an Odyssey for a while). Perhaps the Odyssey a little bit. Not to say they're not good amps, though again, there, I would stick with tubes myself. It might be helpful for the OP to expand more on what exactly they're looking for in switching over. What are you missing with tubes that you think you can get by going to SS with a "tube flavor"?

Two amps come to mind.

Electrocompaniet AW220

Aloia 15.1

Both are exactly what you are looking for. They can please you plenty enough not to have to go back to tubes.

Have fun.

Two others that will please you greatly.

Monarchy 160's monoblocks
Quad 909

These are also spot on for you.

For your preferred music, I would check out a used Plinius, McCormack, and definitely ARC if you can find in your price range. The Vincent may also fit the bill nicely. Ideally you would be able to try any of these to see how well they work with your VTL and other gear.

Another suggestion is to sell your VTL pre and buy a Naim Nait XS integrated amp. This is a really, really good sounding amp and a nice match for the Quads.