phono pre / tube or ss why?

i have good results w/a s/s fonostage & a tubed linestage. i don't know all the technical reasons for why this may work, but i suspect it has someting to do w/the fact that the minute electric signals of a fono-stage are inherently easier to control w/solid-state electronics. of course, there *are* exceptional tubed fono-stages, but at extreme cost & complexity. gordon rankin, of wavelength audio fame, a bone-fide toob-head, has come out w/a hybrid toob-s/s fono-stage. he said, for some of these small signals, s/s is easier to consistently regulate. for me, i get all of the tube-glow from *all* my sources, including the fono, from my preamp.

doug s.

My linestage is tubed as are my monoblock power amps. Yet I prefer a solid state phono stage. I cannot explain why from a technical standpoint but my guesses are:

1) Tubed phono stage would be too much of a good thing
2) Tubes ever so slightly soften vinyl which is already softer than digital.
3) My ears just prefer a speedier delivery with analog.
4) I own little that could be considered state of the art but my Klyne phono stage is one!

This is all personal preference. But I also preferred my McCormack Micro Phono Drive to the EAR, Trimax or Audio Research tubed units, all of which were more expensive than the Mac. Try both ways and see which one you like.

there's a piece by Steve Deckert on www.decware.com on phono listening that's interesting. He says a tube phono section may be crucial in retaining the illusion of live music coming from a system.
Of course, he is soon coming out with a tubed phono section so he is not exactly unbiased (who is unbiased?)
Tubes generally produce more noise; it takes an expensive design to have high gain and low noise.
I would try something like the EAR phono preamp, which is reasonably priced, or Deckert's (if it's out.... and he always offers an evaluation period)