Want great tube sound? You'll need good speakers and a good tube amp and tube preamp. When matched right, the AMP will make the biggest difference in sound. If you like tube sound, you may not go back to SS.
If I'm looking for "Tube Sound", why would I put a Tube Pre in front of a SS amp?
I'm purposefully not specifying speakers as I would like to know in general terms the arguments for and against. So, to the degree that speaker characteristics could also influence the choice, please explain. FWIW, I do not know a phase angle from an impedance curve so I will try and educate myself as we go along. Hopefully, others may benefit too.