SS amp as opposed to tube amp

Rrog, some days my system sounds so glorious that I'm transported to another time and place, but on other days it may not sound so glorious. What is real, and what does my imagination contribute to that euphoria.

This Crescendos rarely come for sale anywhere, that tells you something about the satisfaction of their owners.
I have been trough difficult cash times on graduate school, by my gear on storage a NO...NO.
they were the first speakers that made forget about the gear and focus into the substance, the music i guess....

In terms of longevity and service issues, there are pros and cons for tube gear. First, I have never heard of tube gear taking out a speaker when it failed. I suppose it is possible with high powered stuff (which I usually avoid for sonic reasons), but, it is not likely with most amps. I have seen many more examples of solid state stuff destroying speakers, but, even then, it is not a common occurrence and it usually involves a lot of stupidity (or too liberal use of intoxicants).

One does have to change tubes when they go bad, which will happen much more frequently than the output devices on solid state going bad, but, doing the replacement is easy whereas servicing solid state is much harder, particularly finding older replacement transistors and ICs. Also, most tube amp failures are easily repairable, while solid state amp failures tend to be more difficult to repair.

Depending on one's level of interest/commitment, the fact that one can substantially change the sound and tailor it to one's system and personal taste by swapping tubes, can be the great advantages to tubes.

Aside from maintenance issues, the main consideration is what is appropriate for the particular system and taste of the listener. There are a lot of speakers that are quite difficult to drive that may be more compatible with solid state amplification (sonically as well as practical consideration such as heat). As one goes up to higher levels of tube amplification, a lot of the sonic advantages of tube gear become less evident. OTL tube amps work better than pushpull, in my opinion, at delivering higher power, but, some claim that they work well only with speakers with higher and flatter impedance curves (they have sounded great with all the speakers I've heard them with, so I don't personally know that this is a limitation).

Donjr,

What tubes are you using with your Rogue? A tube change might get you what you want. In particular, maybe look into KT120s.

As for costs of tube vs solid state amps, there are some less expensive tube amps out there (up to about 100 watts or so). For efficient speakers the MiniWatt is amazing at $350ish. For more powerful amps, look at Rogue or Quicksilver. Line Magnetic may also be a good option.

For higher power with some tube sound, maybe look at hybrid designs. Vincent or Butler for example.