[bside123]

I often use a tube preamp in combination with a solid state power amp. I really like the results. I have both tube driven as well as solid state cd players. I have both tube as well as solid state phono stages. I like the merits of both, and I find as do others, the right combo is system and room dependent... with the single most measure being listener's preferences.

I like having the flexibility to mix components. I have no prejudice against solid state gear whatsoever. I also have no false admiration for tube gear. What sounds good sounds good. There are plenty of examples of utterly fantastic sounding tube as well as solid state gear... equally there are just as many horrible examples of both.

Tubes are more finicky than transistors, they require a lot more maintenance, but they offer immediate options for equipment voicing. Solid state gear can be rock solid dependable in performance as well as fidelity. What you hear is what you get every time. Case in point, there are no on/off switches on my solid state monoblocs. Changing the equipment voicing in solid state gear is longer term proposition.  FWIW, these are some of my experiences.

[chlorofille]

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I often use a tube preamp in combination with a solid state power amp. I really like the results.

Same here.

Usually if any listening fatigue creeps in over time, I change out the combinations.I think the most ideal combination would be one that results in the least listening fatigue but maximum listening pleasure.

[Gopher]

I enjoy the best of both worlds with two sets of pre-outs from my tubed preamp.  One pre out feeds my very tubey modified Dynaco ST-70 while the other feeds my very SS Firstwatt F1.  When the mood strikes I can listen to either, but generally speaker I get more enjoyment from my admittedly less refined tube amp (all tube).

[turkey]

I prefer tube because I only listen to cd  (no vinyl) and tubes adress the weaknesses of cd (less than perfect tonality,and restricted depth of image)

Conversely, some of us feel that vinyl has added coloration and exaggerated sense of space.

[turkey]

Allow me to play devil's advocate here...  Audio Research and a few (very few) others were making tube gear early in the 70's.  Those of us that were aware of that equipment obviously had an ear up on the rest of you  .  And there were many SS pieces that were less than wonderful - I'm thinking Crown and Phase Linear as examples.  So maybe ignorance was bliss for the vast majority and you really didn't know what you were missing until the tube renaissance exploded onto the scene.   

In the mid to late '70s, I heard some very good systems using tube amps and using SS. I also heard some really awful systems.

I've also much more recently heard some refurbished vintage gear and it sounded quite good - tube and SS.

Perhaps there is something else going on here than just "the bad old days of SS" and "the golden era of tubes?"

I don't think I've seen a "tube renaissance." What I've seen is a huge leap in terms of source quality, and a steady increase in speaker quality. I think we're more aware of listening room problems and what to do about them too. Computer technology or whatever you want to call it (I'm lumping in digital audio here too) has made a large difference for these things, and materials science (especially polymers) has done the rest.

[mvwine]

My two cents-

If you are putting together a true "reference system" a tube amp is a must - it just restores a lot of the "life" to the music. However, the price of admission for a properly built tube amp - one that overcomes the problems that cheap tube amps have - is expensive. Therefore if you are not prepared to pay that price, your better off going solid state.

As for preamps and DACS, I think you can get reference quality from either camp.

[Tyson]

If you go with a tube amp, look for a design that has a Constant Current Source (CCS).  I had my amps modded to use a CCS module, and the difference in sound (and measurements) was pretty astonishing.

[eclein]

Tyson- Is a CCS like some type of voltage regulation so the tubes only receive the correct voltage and it doesn't fluctuate or spike?

[Tyson]

That's it 

Link to more info:  http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/72274-ccs-how-actually-works.html

Link to a design that uses it:  http://www.tubelab.com/