If your speakers are moderatly efficient , I prefer all tubes. They add a natural richness and level of realism that many SS components can not approach. Tubes do require a small amount of involvement for biasing , replacing tubes, tube rolling. I think its fun. I reccomend Audio research gear to get you started. Its very reliable and well made. My first ARC piece changed my 30+ years of audiophile experences.The sound is so amazing you will not believe how beautiful the sound can be from tube equiptment is.
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?