Tube or solid state

The best preamps I have heard have always been tubed (fifty years of experience in high end audio for me). I moved into a tubed preamp 25 years ago, then one by one tubed everything else. 
 

@spaceguitarist … Use tube only if you prefer Low Fi and enjoy this vintage sound. :)

While there are a lot of ways to generalize stuff in high end audio. Different people may be drawn to different sound characteristics. But well, that statement is just wrong. Some of the finest gear in high end audio is tubed.

Yes, definitely tastes change over time. I climbed mountains, jumped out of airplanes, and dove below 120’ in the ocean. As I got older I more in tune with more subtle and nuanced sound. Street racing of one’s youth becomes a passion for high performance Farari and Maserati later in life… one learns. I don’t like cars… but Kurt Vonnegut has been replaced by Tolstoy and Henry James for sure. Onkyo replaced by Audio Research.

@earthbound 

I have all tube equipment. I am retired and get to listen to my system for about two to three hours a day. I have replaced two tubes in two and a half years (of the ~40) the sound quality well worth it.

@charles1dad …”People simply like what they like.”

Very good point. Folks attracted to high end audio do not share a common end point. Some, simply want their system to sound better to them… which, who knows what that means… recreating a college party experience… a concert they heard long ago. Also, if you like one genre of music you will get pulled in a certain direction. Some, no direction… just it sounds better. Some folks try to recreate the sound of live music.

With all these end goals, it is not surprising companies have sprung up catering to different values. I chased former college / ethereal electronic sound for a ten years or so… my test records would sound better… but lots of my albums would sound worse (jazz, classical, rock). I started thinking… “well, what does the real thing sound like? So, I found out… I hung out at acoustical jazz concerts, stopped when I saw a piano player and listened, attended hundreds of classical concerts.

This completely changed my objectives and direction. With each step, all music sounded better (well, except electronic) and over time my system sounded completely outstanding… real. My system now sounds better and more real than going to the symphony (they put in a DSP sound system, which ruined the sound… not all just positive on my side).

If all people had the same goals as I do, then most systems would sound very similar and the design goals of manufactures would be the same. But since they are not, they are not.