Tube or solid state


Do you prefer a tube preamp into a solid state amp or a solid state amp into a tube amp,which is your choice for best sound?

fixto
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The highest classic way by far is a good SS amplifier ,and Vacuum tube preamp .

please note: buying a good preamp with plenty of power supply power 

the biggest mistakes are and ones the biggest inside if you see a round silver volume pot or attenuator -Run , why for its just a $20 volume pot with metal plastic wipers, you want a resistor ladder type, or relay control ,you loose a lot of low level detail with the cheap alps or Bourne type . I know for I owned a Audio store for 10 years . The power supply  too is very important, for dynamic swings and soundstaging. Many times in lesser preamps when the performance gets complex and the spl levels a bit high on less expensive units say on average   $$3k  or less 

the soundstage depth collapses and image starts to get thinner and loses focus .vs a good quality unit.

please keep  this in mind . Spending a minimum of  $5k is a good rule of thumb 

And  make sure you have at least the 2 items  mentioned , balanced input to output  also truly makes a Sonic improvement. 

 

You may find this article instructive : The return of tube amps!

Of course, as stated above : I'm an ignorant (I'm just an Hifi audio enthusiast since 40 years, professional Jazz musician and teacher since 30 years, endorsed demonstrator for several manufacturers, electronic engineer by my studies, and also administrator of several high fidelity discussion groups, .... but I just discovered that I'm an ignorant compared to some of the experts around here, as it seems).

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