A tubes vs. Solid State question.

Tom, I have always enjoyed it when you weighed in on any given subject because I usually learn something form your comments. I certainly did not have you in mind when I asked the question.
I know several people here for whom I have nothing but respect who are in the tube camp. I do not mind people having reasoned opinions regardless of the conclusion. I may be wrong about some of my opinions, and I have no problem with people absolutely loving tube equipment. I am certainly not suggesting I will never own another tube pre-amp, or that I will never audition a tube amp.
Maybe I never should have started this thread, but it was the few who act like SS people are tin-eared or have never heard tubes so they do not realize how much better tubes sound that caused me to do it.
Judit, I am using a Krell KRC-2 right now. This is my second Krell pre-amp and I really love the sound of it.
Anne, I agree with you and have no intention of running out and buying something because it glows in the dark. It is more the mindset I am asking about. I'm not sure if this is an inapropriate question but are you really a female audiophile??? That is a rare discovery!
Clueless, you have all together too much time on your hands, but you always make me laugh. There should be some kind of reward for that!
For the most part I ask questions like this to dialog with intelligent people about issues which concern me. Thanks for your responses.

I still haven't gone back to tubes, but the Klyne pre-amp which replaced the Krell a couple of years ago has more of a tube sound than SS. Does that count for anything?

Maybe one aspect of tube gear that I hadn't considered is the possibility of tube rolling. It seems that the sound can be tailored to the coloration the listener prefers. I guess even tube lovers cannot agree on tubes!?!

FWIW I have had an integrated tube amp for about six months now. I must not be a real tube guy since I only replaced my 6550s with Electro Harmonix KT 88s and then left the setup alone. : )

Mr Atmasphere, I agree with most of what you said, but even that is meaningless since I will never know as much about amplifier design as you.

When I posted this thread it was in response to comments made by a few people who seemed to think that anyone who did not own tube gear were either deaf or stupid. Some seem to think that the difference is so immense that anyone who hears tubes will never go back to SS. I don't even know what odd order and even order harmonics are, but I have heard a number of SS amps that I liked very much.

This is not an attack on AtmaSphere since they are one of the few companies whose gear I am currently interested in buying. Unfortunately my amplifier is not a weak link, so it will be a while before I look seriously at amps.

I have heard SS gear that sounds good and tube gear that did not sound good. Good sound is not mutually exclusive to either design.

But I can't help but wonder why the human ear would evolve a dislike for odd ordered harmonics? And why would all of them have followed the same evolutionary course?

Since there is no best tube amplifier and best transistor amplifier, they can no more be compared than evolution can face scientific scrutiny.