Tubes probably matter most in the power amp but a tube preamp can add quite alot of tubeyness. Or, like the Audio Research LS 16 I use just add a little bit of that magic to make everything just right. I personally couldn't have a tube amp as too much smoothness kills the inner detail. I started with a Cary AE 3 preamp which was very rich and liquid but was too much for me. It has some wonderful attributes especially for vocals though but the bass and detail wasn't there for me. The ARC preamp however is just right. I'm driving a Parasound Hca 3500 SS amp which isn't noted for being the most smooth ss amp out there but with the Audio Research pre things are smooth and grainfree, ss nasties are gone. I'd been using a Krell preamp before the Cary and the little Cary was easily more enjoyable to listen to than the Krell. You can have too much ss sound too but you can find a balance you'll like with just a preamp IMO.
Where do tubes matter most???
Here's a question from a newbie:
Where do you get the most of that nice "tube sound"? Some say the ratio of importance of tubes in the pre-amp vs power amp is 75/25, others say it's really 50/50. Some say a good hybrid amp will get you most of the way there, others seem to be more all or nothing.
I see a lot of Hybrids with pre-amp tubes, but I never see any hybrids that have solid state preamp with a tube amplifler. I'm assuming this is because It's less expensive to drive inefficient speakers with a solid state amplifier, but do considerations of musicality and sound fit into this design?
Where do you get the most of that nice "tube sound"? Some say the ratio of importance of tubes in the pre-amp vs power amp is 75/25, others say it's really 50/50. Some say a good hybrid amp will get you most of the way there, others seem to be more all or nothing.
I see a lot of Hybrids with pre-amp tubes, but I never see any hybrids that have solid state preamp with a tube amplifler. I'm assuming this is because It's less expensive to drive inefficient speakers with a solid state amplifier, but do considerations of musicality and sound fit into this design?