Anyone else evolve beyond tubes?

I now use a combination of both ss & tubes, a tube preamp & solid state power amp although just recently picked up a tube power amp, specifically the Nobis Cantabile which has a Fet front end based on the classic Marantz 8B driving four EL34s in ultralinear mode , what a great find for the price. I am very impressed with this tube power amp and have had some very enjoyable listening sessions with it so far. If I have evolved at all it seems I have gone back and forth between tubes and solid state each offering their own unique qualities and even mixing the two together. There is no right or wrong answer to this dilema but what works for yourself.

Not too far back there was an article in Stereophile magazine in which the reviewer stated he could not understand the resurgence of interest in tube gear when you take into account how good todays solid state sounds.

After reading Corey Greenberg's review (1992) from Stereophile magazine on the Nobis Cantabile amp, I think a quote from it may be worth repeating here as it gives another point of view of tube versus solid state:

"I dig tube amps. When all's said and done, good tube amps seem to sound more like real life than most solid-state gear, even after listening to & enjoying the hell out of musical solid state designs like the ARC D-240II and the Muse model One hundred, once I hooked up the big VTL Deluxe 225s again it's just like going home. I could go on about timbral accuracy and cleaner midrange textures but the bottom line is, music just sounds better when you shoot it through good tubes, and once most people experience that magic, they're hooked".

I just given two point of views and you can do whatever turns you on. But I will keep both ss & tube on hand because variety is the spice of life. There are no set rules and if there were, they are meant to be broken.

Michael Elliot of Counterpoint talked extensively about tubes in my owners manual and refered to them as fragile little devices. Here is part of what he had to say on the subject:

"A tubes insides are far more fragile than the insides of a light bulb. In a light bulb, all the mfg has to worry about is long life and good light output. It doesn't matter if the filament wire is leaning to one side or if the coating of the filament has some loose flackes, the bulb will work. But a tube has about 1,000 times the requirements to operate satisfactorily. Everybody knows that if you shake a light bulb briskly for about 10 minutes there is a good chance the filament might break, making the bulb useless. The same concept applies to a tube used for audio, but to a larger extent".

Further he explains that the shipping process of tubes due to vibration cannot guarantee a perfectly working noiseless tube upon receipt. So far I have been fortunate and have yet to receive tubes that are noisey or don't work at all but that could change!

TVAD, I totally agree with your statement above and makes alot of sense, very good point. By the way, I am already working on wearing them tubes out you sold me! They have proven to be exceptional in their sonic performance and at times hate to even shut the system down, it sounds that good, you really know your tubes!