SS vs Tube: What do you hear?

I am not sure why we always get so flustered when someone says something that goes against our own philosophies. If Aczel prefers solid state, great. Unfortunately for him, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. That means I can prefer tubes. Him be damned. I know what I hear. They just plain sound more REAL to me. Yes, that is the only word I need to use. REAL. And I am real comfortable with the people on my side. Both, the people on this site, and even designers who make solid state equipment. Yes, solid state designers. If tubes are not superior, then why do then always try(or even HOPE) to categorize the sound of their amps as "tubelike"??? I have now read in the course of two months, two great amp designers(Steve McCormack and Sid Smith) say that tubes sound better. And both have made great solid state amps(Smith being more well known for his tube designs). And even if I was the type who needed people on my side for me to feel secure in my position(which I am most certainly not), I'll take McCormack and Smith over Aczel any day of the week.

I am in complete agreement with everything you have said in your last two posts Garfish. SS is normally better to most people for bass. Tubes for the rest. Like you stated, ss amps try to sound "tubelike" for mids/highs, and tubes would love to sound(usually) like ss like in the bass. The only tubes that can do that are prohibitively expensive both in initial purchase, maintenance, and retube(Jadis/VTL/etc.) - besides taking up too much space. Perhaps Sedond has things right. SS for his subs, and tubes driving the rest of the music. I think it all comes down to personal taste. For me, the overall picture is better with tubes. For you, solid state. Vanilla and chocolate. Simply which tradeoffs we choose to make. I do like the fact that you get a lot of the magic into your system with the tube preamp. A good compromise in the eyes of most. Nice to see two people who can disagree(but less than one would think), without being disagreeable.