I made the switch to tubes from SS about 3 years ago, my SS wasn't considered top of the line and then again, my intro to tubes wasn't either. The entry price point was about the same, but to my ears, there was a huge difference in the sound. The Scott 299C mated with my KLF 30s sounded better to me then the mid-priced Yamaha gear I had. I was able to sit and listen to music for long periods of time without getting the dull headache and listening fatigue. From the 299C I upgraded to a quicksilver audio preamp and monos which I still have, the sound of this pair is better than the Scott.
A friend of mine has some really good sounding SS, but the sound comes with a steep price; he has over $20K invested into his system. Can I afford his equipment? Yes! But it's not practical for me to put that much money into a stereo; one thing that I have learned in this hobby is to set a sound/price threshold and for me I'm getting more sound for my dollar in the tube arena. If you are willing to pay for what sounds best to you then go for it, be it SS or tubes.
One good thing about SS is that you can leave it on all the time and not have to worry about warm up, but after 3 years I'm used to getting up and not having a remote.
EE