Tube or solid state

@spaceguitarist FWIW there are tube amps that can reproduce those squarewaves and do it properly, on account of having full power response to less than 2 Hz on the bottom end (so no measurable square wave tilt at 20Hz) and response well past 100KHz on the top end.

No, you are totally wrong.

Even the most "high end" tube amps, sold at stupidly high prices : deliver more than bearable distorsion to still be called "hifi" gear. And of course they can’t reproduce square waves (who cares... music isn’t square waves). Not to mention the electricity consumption which is totally ridiculous in our time of global warming and energy crisis. Not to mention wear, microphonic parasites, noise ratio, ...

Again : I’m not stating that tube amps don’t sound good : they often do, at least just like any well built amp can sound good (you can easily find as much shitty tube amps as good ones).

But this kind of deprecated technology is called LOWFI , not HIFI, for good reasons : it doesn’t provide "fidelity" at 2023 expectations.

You could read this funny review from ASR (and trust me if I tell you that ASR is not my cup of tea as I think they understand nothing to audiophile reproduction... but at least if you focus on technical details : it’s an information source of reference).

Luxman SQ-N150 Review

@spaceguitarist you regurgitating ASR says all I need to hear from you.

@spaceguitarist you regurgitating ASR says all I need to hear from you.

LOOOL 😂  you did not even manage to read up to the end of my post, and you don't provide any argument that could give any credibility to your opinion : so maybe you just wanted to prove that you're not able to have any opinion on the subject ?

@spaceguitarist : If one reads the original post, the poster asks for others’ preferences between two choices: tube preamp into SS amp, or SS preamp into tube amp. This is what is on the table. Those who read the post and wanted to be helpful, answered the question. It has unfortunately been turned into another tube vs SS debate by someone who clearly and obviously has an agenda to disrespect those who use their own two ears as the ultimate measuring tool to decide which comes closest to HIFI (and have chosen tube equipment). High fidelity is described in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “reproduction of an effect (such as sound or image) that is very faithful to the original”. Faithful to the original sound from a stereo system is subjective, and measured by most people using their ears. If a person wants to choose the equipment they use based on measurements collected by other electronic devices, they are absolutely free to do so. But that does not mean that those who use their ears are wrong… clearly and obviously… because I have heard components that measure well but sound dreadful. Also, it is contradictory to say that tube amplification is “LOWFI”, while admitting that tube amplifiers can “sound good”. Good sound is the goal in this hobby. And there is only one instrument that can be the final gauge for each individual, and that instrument is the human ear, regardless of any graph or measure of distortion. Out of respect to the OP, I’d like to specifically answer the original question (I too had been distracted by the “agenda” posts!). I’ve tried many combinations of tube and SS, and in my experience a SS preamp into a tube amplifier is my preference. Ymmv

it is contradictory to say that tube amplification is “LOWFI”, while admitting that tube amplifiers can “sound good”

LOWFI ""can"" sound good as long as the listener is expecting LOWFI : there’s no contradiction.

In some cases LOWFI amplification is better, especially with old recordings that are not able to provide good listening experience by themselves but require the amp to add some kind of "body" to the sound (what tube amps are usually doing well with a hudge amount of added distorsion).

Anyway : the world of LOWFI fanatics is very small today : 1) electric guitarists (for most kind of music : electric guitar microphones are unable to provide enough "body" by themselves), 2) phonographs and audiophiles tube amps for those who are searching for the good old sound of their youth, 3) some newcomers who believe what marketing says...

To come back to the main post’s question : tube preamp is total nonsense. What makes tubes enjoyable is second order distorsion at high operating level, preferably in class A operation. But even with this in mind : latest FET FDA are doing better.

So the answer is : no tube anywhere if HIFI is expected ! and tubes only at the power stage if LOWFI is expected.