Tube or solid state amp or amps?

Sdcampbell-very well put and true.

>>tubes rule, don't be a solid state fool<<

Spoken like a fool

Tube vs. solid state is a useless distinction. I have auditioned many amplifiers, and I find there is much overlap in tube and solid state sounds, and that tube amps and solid state amps vary widely in their sound. Of all the amplifiers that I have auditioned, the two that sound most alike are the Pass Labs Aleph 3 (SS)and the AtmaSphere MA-1s (Tube). My JJ electronics tube amp sounds more "solid state" than the Aleph 3. Although I've not heard them side-by-side, I suspect the same would be true of Hovland's solid-state offerings. Audiopax makes fabulous sounding tube and solid state amps that sound neither solid statey nor tubey. I have heard the AR LS-25 pre-amp, which I thought sounded very tubey, and very different than the Atma-Sphere MP3. And on and on...
You also need to consider how much you can tolerate heat, maintenance, and tubeomortis nervosa, the constant anxiety that your tubes are slowly dieing and squashing your sound, but you just don't realize it, followed by the cost of replacing your tubes way more than they need to be, because there's no way to tell, or buying a tube tester (and hoping ITs rare vintage tubes don't blow).
Sorry, but there is no correct answer. It depends on a lot of things.

I would recommend Sonic Frontiers Power 3 monoblocks. They sell for a good price on Audiogon and there are two available now. If you don't need 200 to 300 watts, there is a power 2 which is a little smaller. I just retubed mine to KT88s and the sound is great. The nice thing about tubes is you can change the sound by changing to a different set of tubes.

I tried the mix-and match tubes and ss for a while back. Tube pre and SS amps..vice versa. Pretty interesting sounds. I also bought a pair of beautiful monoblocks and the tube pre ( Magnum series) but after a while I sold them all. Tubby sounds can also create listenning fatigue or boring feeling as much as SS sounds. Why don't get two good systems for both tubes and SS. You can have the best of the both.