Smooth treble

Smooth means not course or irritating during extended listens.

I did similar to Saki but for the purpose of changing the sound overall based on what I had heard auditioning various reference systems. I did not find the treble per se on my particular system with SS gear problematic at all though. When it occurred it was usually on certain (soft dome tweeter by chance) speakers with certain recordings in a certain room.

I "ditched" the SS pre-amp only because a) I need a SS power amp to properly drive my speakers and b) I want as few tubes in my system as possible in order to minimize maintenance and c) tubes in power amps are probably the most finicky and expensive.

So you can achieve smooth treble with SS as well of course.

A single tube in a tubed DAC is a good place to start if your issues are mostly with digital sources. Next step would be the pre-amp and finally the power amp if you turn out to be so brave.

Sounds_real_audio,

I don't want to put you on the hot seat, but could you mention some specific brands/products that you think fall into this category?

"live music sounds much more "smooth" and airy in the high frequency department."

Depends on where you are sitting relative to the source.

Sit next to a drum set and give the crash symbol a good whack. Chances are it is not so light and airy.