going from tube preamp to solid state

@nagel

If you really love great sound quality you really deserve to own a great tube preamp. It is easy to develop a list of potential problems with a technology and stay a way from it.

For several decades I stayed away from tubed amps. For me, it was a real mistake. The “problems” were so minuscule and the benefits so large it isn’t funny. I have owned tubed preamps for decades and tube amps for only about 5,000 hours of listening time (the last 4 years). I wish I had allowed myself to get a great tube amp decades ago.

My experience. But most of the audiophiles I know switched to tubes late and never went back to so,I’d state,

I have owned a dozen preamps over the last fifty years. My objective was always to improve the sound of my system with the next purchase.
 

I suspect primarily because of cost my first preamps were solid state… but for the last twenty years or so my preamps have been tubed. This is because as I moved up (always up, never sideways) the best sounding preamps for the money are tubed.

So, I don’t think it is simply a question of tubed vs ss. It is a question of what price range you are in. I would say that if you are looking at high end products… say in the $5K to $25K… tube products are likely to sound better. More natural and musical.

Also, for use to be helpful, if you would put some quick photos and your components under your UsrID… under virtual systems, we can be tremendously more helpful. Lots of times a question comes in about a piece of equipment, but the answer is about how your system is set up or your venue. Very helpful.