Agree pretty much with the previous posts and add that I like the ability to change the sound by swapping different tubes. It can be as expensive a pursuit as you'd like to make it but - the irony! - customizing the sound via tube-rolling is a bit of modernity that solid state can't touch. My experience has been that in a well designed circuit tube gear is very reliable, though not as maintenance-free as solid state. Ever notice how most superlatives heaped upon a given transistor device will include "very tubelike" when gauging the realism of the music reproduction?
