The biggest sound difference, tubes vs. SS, will be in the power amp, hands down. Having said that, I do not use tube amps for that very reason: they sound too much like tube amps, and I can't live with that much deviation from neutrality. Tubes are vastly better suited for the impedances seen in electronics, not speakers. This is one of those iron laws of physics that no one can do anything about. The closest I've seen to a real solution to this problem is the Berning ZOTL approach, but that limits your choices quite a bit. In the end, you need to listen for yourself, in your system, with music that you enjoy, and decide. The good thing about tube amps on Audiogon is that you won't lose much resale value if you buy carefully.
Where do tubes matter most???
Here's a question from a newbie:
Where do you get the most of that nice "tube sound"? Some say the ratio of importance of tubes in the pre-amp vs power amp is 75/25, others say it's really 50/50. Some say a good hybrid amp will get you most of the way there, others seem to be more all or nothing.
I see a lot of Hybrids with pre-amp tubes, but I never see any hybrids that have solid state preamp with a tube amplifler. I'm assuming this is because It's less expensive to drive inefficient speakers with a solid state amplifier, but do considerations of musicality and sound fit into this design?
Where do you get the most of that nice "tube sound"? Some say the ratio of importance of tubes in the pre-amp vs power amp is 75/25, others say it's really 50/50. Some say a good hybrid amp will get you most of the way there, others seem to be more all or nothing.
I see a lot of Hybrids with pre-amp tubes, but I never see any hybrids that have solid state preamp with a tube amplifler. I'm assuming this is because It's less expensive to drive inefficient speakers with a solid state amplifier, but do considerations of musicality and sound fit into this design?