nothing wrong with ss amps i loved my old markbass lm2 but valves have a sound and putting drives on top of driven tubes sounds amazing.
not saying the class d stuff sounds bad, but also alot depends on the cab aswell ive tried really small 112's and it just doesnt sound as big as i want, not tried any barefaced cabs but my current 810 is my favourite cab, massive mid punch! low mids for me is where the punch/heft is.
Andy