Tubes separates:
1. Marantz 8b. Incredible bass. Tunable damping factors. Easy to replace EL34 tubes. Value appreciating constantly. Simple circuitry. Individual bias pots mean no need of matched tubes.
2. Heathkit W2(AM). Representative of the clasic Williamson's circuitty realized with good quality ALtec output tranformer. Power transformer is of real bad quality but replaceable with modern quality units. Incredible musicality rivalling and bettering the EICO HF-81 at similar prices. Output switchable from triode to pentode for different tastes. Highly tunable and customizable with many resources.
SS separates:
1. Nakamichi PA-7 and PA-7 II(2). Recent prices of best have dropped from a high of USD1.5k in 2002 to USD600-900 in 2014. Circuitry easily referenced to Threshold units for upgrades and repair. Famous Nelson Pass design. Comparable quality parts to other High End builders'. Very under-valued even at its height in second hand market. Sound-wise, big bass with good damping. Very articulate sound. Tube-like sound but with precise trebles and huge dynamics. Any Nak with Nelson Pass power amp sections will sound incredibly good, like the humble TA-2 tuner/amp of 50wpc. So the 200wpc PA-7 shocked me when I used it with my Celestion SL-700. Keeper for life with no alternative at this price. Buy two or three for multiple amping!!
