The difference between tubes and solid state that I am finding

Normally I avoid generalizations; however, you have accurately listed the major differences between tube and solid state sound quality.  The degree of difference over the years and with the introduction of modern tube design have narrowed, and many current tube designs from ARC, Nagra,  VAC, and CJ have wonderful clarity, detail, and bass response missing in earlier designs while maintaining the magical midrange bloom (blossoming), image density and dimensionality, and staging of the past. In turn, many solid state designs from Burmester, Audio Note, ARC, BAT, etc. have closed the gap on bloom, image density, and staging while maintaining the clarity and transient speed of solid state designs.  I grappled intensely with myself in making a decision between ARC or Nagra vs Audio Note or Burmester when I  upgraded my system for retirement.  I chose Burmester for it got close to the magic of tubes but with a clarity, speed, and dynamic nuance reproduction I could not resist.  To each our own.  Recommendation, if you enjoy the tube sound, you should want to optimize the synergy by going all tube.  
 

@ghdprentice “I owned primarily solid state for forty years... and one by one switched to all tube component for all my systems.”
 

With respect, and noting we are close in age, this is possibly related in part to the effect of aging on hearing.  As we age, we loose high frequency hearing but counterintuitively, this makes high frequencies sound annoying and fatiguing because our brain needs to work harder to hear in that range. This also is related to an inability to focus on direct sound when there is background noise.  See peer reviewed articles on Presbycusis and Hyperacusis. I validated this from my own aging experience. 

@ghdprentice Acknowledged, and as always, well articulated.   As I mentioned before, our goals for SQ appear very similar, as is our passion for live ancous music, even though we went in opposite directions with equipment choices.   I have been to an audiologist.  The conclusion was that my hearing is above average for someone half my age; however, the normal aging process includes Hyperacusis, which has made me less tolerant to high frequency noise and interferes with my ability to focus on direct sounds in an environment rich in background noise.   For example, I am less tolerant digital HF distortion and focusing on conversation in a noisy restaurant has become more difficult.   This has not affected my ability to hear a wide frequency range, acknowledging higher frequency test signals are harder to hear.