I have taken Asa's suggested route by pairing a Supratek Syrah and a Plinius SA-102. You can experiment with tubes--I have been happy with either Ken Rads(black glass) or Sylvania metal base (the latter tend to be a bit quirkier with noise). I realize it may be heresy to say so, but I have heard the highly-regarded Tenor amps in an excellent system and room, and I actually prefer my combination, which can be had at a small fraction of the price. Compromise, yes, but pretty damn close to all I can imagine hoping for. I would not trade my combo for the Tenors, I know that much.
From tubes to solid state. What do you loose...
...if your priories are transparency, timbral acuracy, micro dynamics and soundstage? I am hesitant to give-up on my Sonic Frontiers Power 2, but buying tubes every so often can be quite expensive. The current tubes offered (Sovtek, Svetlana, EH) are short-lived and not cheap either. I will probably stay with tube pre-amp and go with the ss amps, like Mark Levinson...?