Is there anyone who came back from tubes to SS?

I like a solid state amp tube preamp combo
You get the advantage of the warmth of tubes, tube rolling to paly around and preamp tubes are not as costly as power amp tubes. Also I can leave my Audio Research D200 on for extended periods of time where it really breaks in nicely and not have to worry about short tube life.

tom

On an absolute basis, if I had nothing to do but sit between my speakers and listen critically constantly, I prefer the sound of tubes. There is nothing better.
On a practical basis, I no longer have this kind of time, and tube equipment requires more space, ventilation and maintenance than I care to deal with. Thus, I have just switched to solid state. It was not an easy choice, but I am slowing getting used to living with an Audio Refinement Complete.

I recently moved out of my Copland CTA-402 tube integrated into a Plinius SA-100mkII and C-J PV11 and couldn't happier. Yes, there is some hiss if you put your ear to the drivers, but when music is introduced, it's wonderful! The ProAc 2.5s are happy and have all the power the need to pull the depth and detail out of the source material; analog or digital. Yes, tube rolling is fun too! I contacted the tube gurus out in California and took their recommendation (not their pricy product) to swap the stock CJ tube set. I am using Tele 12ax7s and RCA Cleartop 12au7s. I am searching for GE 5 Star 5751s to replace the 12ax7s and to one stock 5751. I just acquired some Mullard 12au7s and am anxious to try these in place of the RCAs.
Your decision should be based on the efficiency of your speakers, room size, music preference and budget. You're gonna get a lot more SS than tube amp for you $$. But, I personally would never have a totally SS system. This is the second SS/tube pre combo I have had; the 1st being the Aragon 4004mkII and CJ PV8 driving Maggie MGb's. The CJ replaced a NAD pre-amp, the result was stunning.

In answer to your initial question, I "sort of" have returned to solid state. I originally used a Krell KSA 80 on my Duntech Princess speakers, replacing that with ARC M300 hybrids and eventually Jadis JA80s. I was disappointed with the deep bass from the JA80s on the Duntechs, so I sold the speakers and am now using a 4 piece biamped system, with my Jadis on the top and solid state (Meitners) on the bottom, below 200hz. The only tube amps I've heard that can match solid state in the deepest bass (big VTLs, ARC Ref 300s, CAT JL-1) are way too big and expensive for my system. However, I do miss the Jadis in the mid-bass, as I feel they were superb in that area; I feel most tube amps are better than ss in that area. I can't alter the crossover frequency in this system, but if I could I'd go for 60 hz or below for the ss, above that for tubes. I'm still looking for a tubed amp that can replace the Meitners, but so far no reasonable contenders.

In addition, as my JP80 is off for repairs, I'm borrowing a Klyne ss preamp (6 in the model number?), which is pretty good for a $2200 preamp with phono stage. However, while it has better deep bass extension, it lacks the bloom, soundstaging and dynamics of the (admittedly ar more expensive) Jadis unit. Having listened for almost two weeks, I'm quite certain I would not be willing to give up tubes in the preamp.

As you asked, my principal listening is to classical music of all kinds, with a preference for the large scale romantic works, but I also do a lot of listening to late 60's and early 70's rock and folk. I might lean more to solid state with different tastes in music, perhaps.

Well right now I have a tube preamp,Conrad Johnson Premier 3,with a Conrad johnson MF-200 S.S. MOSFET power amp.I've been bouncing back and forth between S.S.and tube power.The best combination I had was Tubes on top,Conrad Johnson MV-75a with a Sonographe on the bottom,with the Premier 3 preamp.I'm working on getting back the MV-75a so that I can put it on the mids and highs and use the CJ MOSFET on the bottom,to my opinion this is my ideal sound and getiing the best of both types of sound.I have B&W 802 series 3 speakers.