Two other examples of very fine all tube designs suitable for low output carts would be the Aesthetix Io and the Wavestream Kintetics. The main challenge with all tube designs as intimated above is getting high gain with low noise. Another typical issue is that SS tends to have better low bass clarity but this is more of an issue with amplifiers than preamps.
Science & Sound, Tube or Solid State Phono?
I have heard that for very low level signals solid state will be better than tubes. I am curious as to the impressions out there. I would love to know from a theoretical point of view that is made for the layman what is better or what are the strengths of each. I would also like to know if anyone has compared similar price high end phonos both tube & solid state and had a preference and why? Does the choice depend on the cartridge in use?