I've had SS preamps and SS amp combinations, different tube preamps with great SS amps and then I bought a VAC Renaissance 70/70 amp to mate with my VAC preamp. That was the best up to that point but there is no argument for the bass delivered by solid state. I think I have come up with what is about as good as it gets by having tube preamp, tube amp for midrange and up by adding Genesis Model V speakers into the system to handle all the low bass you could ever ask for. The tubes get to work their magic and the servo amp gets the bass as good as I've heard bass. I love this set up and have had it for almost 3 years with not feelings of upgrading. I now mess with power cords and power conditioning instead to get the last little incremental improvements I can.
SS vs Tube: What do you hear?
Peter Aczel, editor of The Audio Critic, says "Whatever vacuum tubes can do in a piece of audio equipment, solid-state devices can do better, at lower cost, with greater reliability" (issue 26, p5). What do you hear which causes you to select tubes over ss, or vice versa?