solid state vs tubes

Mrtennis what speakers are you going to be driving?

Plinius SA100MKIII came somewhat close to tubes. the midrange was quite liquid and had a 'golden' glow, still a bit 'thick' and less nuanced than tubes.

but a good choice for many I am sure

This question persists amongst us, but I tend to agree with Rtn1.
For many of us, we say "it should sound like a live, 'real' musical performance". I suppose this means decay, depth, soundstage, tonal balance, drums and cymbals, voices, etc.
Every year i attend Bumbershoot, Seattle's Art and Music Festival (check it out, one of the best in the US). I love it for many, many reasons one of them being you can stand right up near the stage at most venues. Some performers use tube amps and some use SS equipment. From Jazz, Bluegrass, Opera, Punk, acoustic, etc. So how would one say that our systems at home would reproduce that sound in our home systems?
Here's a bad example, but... : years ago, Chuck Berry was to perform at Bumbershoot. Yeah!
In his contract he demanded a certain 1960s Fender amp- different model speaker and different model brain with certain tube compliment. Fifteen minutes before his appearance, Mr. Berry noticed they did not have the specific amp head. He refused to go onstage because he would not get his "tube sound" (according to stage manager). The manager had to run around the festival raising cash money to get Mr. Berry to perform with inferior equipment, a compromise he was willing to make, (for extra $). In his heart, I'm sure he suffered. The show was awesome. So here's a great Rock and Roll artist, who argues for tube sound only. He hears, know's the difference. At least he argues for it. (Ironically, it was in the stadium which has the worst acoustics in the world. ask anyone who saw Dylan this year).
Personally I prefer tube (VAC 80/80) "sound" for warmth, and midrange. I also like the glow, man...
But, SS done well can tighten up the bass and push my speakers (Verity Parsifals) to "sparkling highs", midrange and tight, well tuned bass.
I find this thread at this time interesting because as much as I love tube amps, I will be auditioning a pair of mono MBL amps very soon. (Please, no reviews, I can barely spell, let alone articulate what I hear).
So, IMHO, it is really a matter of taste and most importantly, trade-offs.
Like Raul says, enjoy the music.

My experience is that a good SS amp (tonally - not bright) with a good to great tube preamp will yield positive results. However, this is system dependent. I use very large, current hungry speakers and a SS amp makes them sing. One must also consider that the "digital" age has made some of the negative characteristics of SS even worse....namely upper mid range grunge as well as a smaller soundstage - depth and width. I find that many tube preamps will bring the soundstage size back and mitigate some / most of the brightness (some recordings cannot be saved). I find that I get 90% of the tube magic with a SS amp and tube preamp - plus the positive attributes of a SS amp - dynamics, bass, reliability, cost etc. Here is a good example of how far SS has come...Tube Research Labs makes a fabulous amp called the Samson which is simply killer and solid state!

I posted a question to the recent TAS Golden Ear Club tele conference which RH and JV and others held last night. My question was basically "As technologies improve with both analog and digital, (and SS and tube), each of these categories is sounding more and more like real music. Doesn't that imply that these various technologies are converging in sonic terms, ie, they sound more and more similar at the highest levels?"

They discussed this question and basically said yes, they are converging, though the consensus was that they will never sound identical. I tend to agree. The designers are making progress though there is still a long way to go before the best sounds real.