In fact my high school Calculus teacher (easily the smartest high school teacher I’ve ever seen) in the early 1990s referenced a study with the same findings: adding a small amount of static noise improves human detection of low-level signals. The topic came up seemingly quite randomly, in one class. But I remember it quite clearly, and certainly thought of it when I got into vinyl in the 2000s!
Human perception is complex. With tubes the idea is that low order distortion is sonically pleasing, and that higher levels of it can mask lower levels of high-order distortion which is very objectionable to human perception. So run tubes and vinyl; stop fighting your nature :)
Human perception is complex. With tubes the idea is that low order distortion is sonically pleasing, and that higher levels of it can mask lower levels of high-order distortion which is very objectionable to human perception. So run tubes and vinyl; stop fighting your nature :)