Can tube preamps be as 'detailed' sounding as ss?

If you like the detail and bass of the solid state preamp, I believe you might really, really like a First Sound Presence Deluxe II preamp. I owned one, and ran it at one time with a Bryston 4B SST amplifer. It created the largest soundstage I've ever heard, and the bass and treble clarity was stunning. Definitely not your father's tubed preamp.

It's like solid state on steroids.

The only thing a tube design will give you over SS is a higher level of distortion. Some people like it, but it's not accurate, i.e., it's not on the recording.
Bob_reynolds (Answers)

Speaking only for myself, none of the accurate solid state or digital gear I have owned has been musical, and I have owned or tried some very highly regarded, uber-spec'd amplification and preamplification.

Different strokes for different folks, but I don't subscribe to the notion that by definition more accurate sounds better, and I believe this has to do with the recording. IMO, no recording sounds like live music due to the inherent manipulations required in the recording process. So, while the goal of accurately reproducing what's on the recording is a fine utopian ideal, it falls short of the goal which most of us desire...which is an enjoyable musical experience.

Thanks, Machman12000, for starting the latest in a long series of Audiogon tubes vs. solid state pissin' contests. Caution: Aim downwind!

:)

You make good points, Rayhall.

As it seems to me the only important quality of any amplifier, whether tubed or digital or solid state, is how its sound pleases the owner, I have to ask of the original question and resulting dialogue, "What the hell does it matter?"