I just wonder how many people go from SS to tube, or tube to SS. My suspicion is, once you have tried tubes, for most of us, there is no way back. Nor are tube amps wooly and soft, my tube integrated is lightening fast, quiet, uncoloured with deep base. It is more than $3000 though. If I was going for an integrated in that price range, I would go for a VAC Avatar, or the super later version. It would only be second hand, as sadly, VAC have no integrated at the moment. If I won the lottery, it would be a vAC Phi Beta integrated