I have been back and forth on owning tube or solid state phono preamps for aseverla years now and conclude that my personal tastes indicate that I much prefer a tubed phono pre over a solid state version. Smooth, grain free and midrange sweetness all appeal to my ears and are just not quite as nice with solid state. My local audio buddies concur. But then we all listen to high quality vinyl from the 60s and 70s, so perhaps the format of the time mandates the technology as well.
