SS Preamp with Tube Amp?

"Semi suggests that a tube pre and amp is the ultimate."

I believe this has the biggest upside in regards to realistic sound reproduction with tube amplification and with most speakers out there today, particularly in larger rooms. Juice (current) is key. I've been extremely pleased with the results of this in my rig. For modest cost, I think my rig is at least competitive with the best I have heard which also happen to cost many times more.

With more efficient, higher impedance speakers (less common today in that SS still rules), then I think tube amps can also achieve the highest levels as well. You will pay a premium for good tube amplification though.

Every once in a while I try various combinations of tube/ss electronics, and enjoy whatever benefit it brings to the table. I always gravitate back to all tubes. There's a reason you almost never hear of a tube lover going back to ss, for sonic reasons alone. It's almost always for some other reason(heat, trouble, compactness, whatever.) Once you have heard the difference, it is hard to go back.

Guido -- there's this marvelous website called Google http://www.google.com where you can not only find out stuff like "waht's a nonosecond?" but you can also look up the correct spelling for common words like what? ;-)

Nanosecond definition here: http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci212620,00.html
.

Odd. . . I do seem to enjoy perfectly well my SS rig.

The reason I would still choose a SS pre over a tube pre (even assuming the highest quality of either) is because to me, transistors are the device of choice for handling very small/weak signals. There are a number of different reason I feel this way including:

>> transistors don't change their behavior over time
>> transistors don't require large power supplies (compared to a similar tube unit)
>> transistors (except power output transistors) don't generate much heat (which can affect other electronic parts)
>> transistors don't produce electron "rush" (tube noise) which in a low level device like a preamp is bound to be amplified. Tube noise and tape hiss is why Dolby Laboratories was born ;-)

Preamps don't generally amplify the signal. They just select it, balance it, and attenuate it (reduce it's strength) when you don't want to play the music loud.

One kind of preamp that DOES amplify is a phono preamp. And in most cases, it also provides RIAA equalization to reduce record surface noise and strengthen the high frequencies. Frankly, I'm divided on this one. On one hand, I like tube PHONO preamps because you can mess with the tubes ;-) On the other hand, they DO make noise, and what I really dislike is the fact that if you want enough gain for MC cartridges, you almost always have to use a step-up transformer before the preamp; and I really dislike those! Transistor phono preamps can deliver plenty of noise-free gain, even for the lowest output MC cartridges. But you can't "roll" transistors; so if you want to tailor the sonics, why you're just SOL ;-)
.