Class "A" solid state vs. Tube amp.?

As offensive as this may sound to many tube lovers out there I find the sound of well designed solid state to be categorically better than virtually any tube amp unless your system is seriously flawed and requires tube coloring to disguise such flaws. In my experience most tube amps break-up when forced to reproduce complex passages of either classical, rock or jazz (i.e. large dynamic peaks, many instruments overimposed, etc.). The only exception are the "over-engineered" megabuck tube amps with which I have little experience but which in any event do not seem to overperform well designed solid state gear. Although tube coloring via excessive mid-bass and rolled highs is in many cases a tempting cure for poor recordings or poorly designed systems I believe there is solid state equipment out there which vastly outperforms these intricate system/tube pairings. If you want names I suggest you look at Plinius, Krell, Levinson, Rowland, as well as some less pricey stuff from such as Marsh, GamuT and Sunfire.Of course the rest of the system needs to be up to par.

Tubegroover, while I have the utmost respect for ARC products in terms of delivering good sound I frankly prefer the honest straightforward gain provided by the ss amps I listed. I have done sufficient comparisons of tubes vs. ss to conclude that the sweetness in the mids is unnecessary if the source is good, and in addition the compromise is too high when the system is reproducing more demanding passages. For the money, I remain convinced that you can easily match the ARC sound or best it (e.g. the GamuT)without the inherent hassles and practical limitations of tubes. Having said that, if your preference is for small ensemble music or vocals I can understand that a good tube amp will make for a very enjoyable musical experience that could cost many $$$ in top notch ss front end.

Tubegroover: "The power supply of the amp will dictate whether or not it runs out of gas on busy and dynamic passages of full orchestral music." Are you suggesting that that is the only determinant of an amp's dynamic behavior and ability to reproduce complex passages with accuracy ? In my experience brute force is not the key issue in well designed amps, whether tube or solid state, (although I agree it is an issue) but rather a break-down in tonal accuracy which I find is better dealt with in solid state than in tubes, dollar for dollar.

My experience with tubes has been more limited than my experience with ss, because I prefer the latter. Just to restate, at equivalent price points, I have ALWAYS found ss to be more satisfactory. Granted, a $30K Atmasphere does not break-up when reproducing complex passages, almost regardless of what it's driving, but neither does my $2K Marsh, for the most part. I fond that most $2K tube amps I have auditioned do break-up in such cases. Second issue, tonal accuracy. Yes, I do not like the sound of most tube amps when they reproduce complex passages compared to similar price-point solid state. I do not think it is a question of power in reserve alone. But there I plead ignorance to any technical explanation and perhaps my ears are indeed deceiving me. In any event I appreciate all your patience and well though arguments. Maybe one day I'll change my mind.