After some early aspirational days with a few modest solid state amps (Acurus and B&K) I stepped it up to a Balanced Audio Technology tube amp. The VK-55 was really lovely. I played around with a Classe preamp for a while and ended up with a tube preamp: the Audio Research LS-25. Eventually, after a speaker change, I needed a bit more power, so I traded the power amp in for an Audio Research VT100mkII which had about double the power.
As these are older pieces of tube gear, they needed the occasional maintenance. After a bit of annoyingly bad luck with some noisy tubes, followed by more bad luck with some some noisy capacitors in the power amp, I decided to explore solid state again. I had to mail the power amp in to Minnesota for service all the way from Florida more than once, so the round trip shipping alone, not to mention lifting the box into the car was enough to get me to consider solid state.
I evaluated my amp and preamp value at about $4500, so I began looking for a similarly priced solid state option. I found a great deal on a PASS labs x250 power amp and a PASS labs x1 preamp. Top notch stuff, great deal, bought them both, set them up on the audio shelf next to my Audio Research gear.
My mother in law is a Krell & Wilson woman (imagine my eyes the first time I walked into her living room, with her daughter, my girlfriend at the time!) which means her daughter, now my wife, grew up listening to hi-fi gear and auditioning in audio salons. My wife has an excellent ear.
We sat on the sofa together and played 3 or 4 well known tracks on a couple of different LPs. Favorite tunes, well recorded, all that. Then I disconnected the PASS gear and reconnected the ARC gear. We played the 1st track...
My wife looked at me, and said, "You're crazy if you sell this Audio Research stuff."
I agreed. The PASS labs gear, lovely as it is, made a swift departure, and the Audio Research amp and preamp are on my rack today. Since that fateful moment about 2.5 years ago, I have sent my power amp in for service once more, but I don't get so bent out of shape anymore. Its worth the trouble. Tubes are worth the trouble.
I think my next upgrade may be to the ARC VM 220 mono blocks as my speakers are on the inefficient side, and could use a bit more power. I may upgrade to the ARC REF2 or REF 3 preamp as well, but I don't see either of those changes happening anytime soon. I am super happy with my power amp and preamp.
So to answer your question more simply, in my case, my tube amp makes me smile. If I am forced to answer your question as you are asking it, my mother in law's Krell KAV-250a makes her Wilson Cub's sing wonderfully. I feel her system is as enjoyable as mine. The Krell and Wilsons are on Audiogon at the moment for $1500 & $2500 respectively, and are a great combo. (there is also an ARC VT100mkII for sale at $2,000!)
Tubes my friend, go old school, they're so cool.
