I completely agree with TJHUB. I had the luxury of being invited to his home when he received a new piece of gear (various preamps, DAC's and amps). Each time a "tubed" piece of gear was swapped in I noticed an immediate difference. We even had a nice swap/comparison session with his former DAC (SS) and new DAC (Tube). We were able to swap on the fly and the difference was subtle with some music but obvious with others. The largest difference was the bass response and change in high frequencies (like Dennis said). I'll also note that the soundstage and imaging capabilities of the system changed as well. Was this due to added distortion? Probably. Was it a pain in the butt to get everything to synergize? Uh huh. But was it worth it? Well, I think TJHUB's post answers that question (yes, in case you didn't gather
). However, could I pick out the differences in a blind, level matched test? I honestly have no idea...probably not. I have the utmost confidence in my own hearing, and I trust it above anyone else's opinion, but the results of properly conducted blind/level matched tests always turn out the same, with no one being able to consistently hear the difference. No matter how good I feel my hearing is, I cannot argue with those results, hence my admission I probably wouldn't pass a blind level matched test. But here is the important point: whether or not we can pass such a test probably doesn't matter to most people. If they hear a difference, whether it's really there or not, and it makes them happy, isn't this all that matters? Your money is yours to spend, so choose what you feel sounds best to you, and don't let anyone tell you that you're wrong (don't confuse the latter with people giving you good suggestions and honest opinions).
Dennis is right, you're right, I'm right, etc. One of the most important things I've learned about this hobby is there are no definitive, unanimous rights or wrongs; just different tastes. It all depends on what you're looking for.
For the record, I am not taking a side in this discussion.