Mating Tube pre's with SS amps

Bass response shouldn't be a concern. Bass is very important to me and must be natural and dynamic without any sort of loss. I have VMPS Supertower/R SE speakers with four 15's and two 10's handling the bass. Bass is articulate and dynamic. This ARC LS 16, non II version, easily bested the Krell I was using before. The tubes I'm using are Sovteks. Tried some NOS and they were microphonic, although just a little, and that sound wasn't for me. Will be trying some different tubes again though. The Sovteks are also more quiet. I aim for accurate sound. A touch of euphonic sound is all the more I want as it seems you lose detail with too much tubey sound. In all it's a balancing act. What else is new? Try the tube pre though as I think you'll be surprised if you've only used SS gear like me. The tube pre will make the sound more natural or real. In effect more accurate. I tried 3 different dacs trying to get the sound into the area it's now in with the tube pre. Bought this little Cary AE 3 tube pre as a test and knew I was on the right track. The sound was rich and lush but slow and with a significant loss of detail. The Audio Research is very close to SS and is quite transparent. No loss of dynamics or any bass problems related to equipment here. Now the room acoustics are another story even though I've spent alot of time and money in that direction it seems there's always a little more to do. Good luck

I very much enjoy my combination of Sonic Frontiers Line 3 and Lamm M1.1 monoblocks.......

Warner, I've only owned a tubed unit once so they're still new to me. When people refer to microphonics do they mean a sort of feedback distortion caused by loud music (sound waves) affecting the tube? Kind of how loudspeaker sound gets into a mike, gets amplified and starts a cycle like that?

I don't know what exactly but I've always wanted to demo a sonic frontier the Sonic Frontiers 3. Maybe it's their DIY past. PeterB, are there any major sonic criticism you have with the unit? Fact is, I couldn't really demo one without buying it myself. Have you compared it or have any experience with BAT, Audio Research or other popular tubed pre to make a comparison? Thanks.

Tube microphonics are exactly as you described and will add kind of reverb sound. There's many people who like a bit of microphonics. Problem I have with it is that the louder you play the more effect the microphonics are having. The 3 pre's you list are all similar. I've not heard the BAT but from what I've read it aims more toward accuracy. A good friend just replaced a Sonic Frontiers with an ARC but has nothing to do with quality of either but more of a personal preference. It's something you'll have to try yourself as nobody can tell you what sounds best in your system to you and like I said earlier there are different flavors. Good luck