Tube or solid state phono stage?

I have an all ARC system and have used solid state and tube phono stages with it. (Starting out, I thought perhaps solid state would be the way to go). The ARC phono stages provide a synergy with their amps and preamps that cannot be beat with anything I've heard. I have the Ref Phono 2 SE , Ref160Ms and Ref 40 with TechDas Airforce 3 Premium S and various carts including Lyra Atlas Lambda SL and Dynavector XV 1t .

Can hardly stand to listen to my CDs.

Dynamic and musical. Not at all too warm. Go with ARC.

Neither :-) Pass XP Phono on MOSFETs.

Lots of really good recommendations and best of luck. Got to hand it to posters on this site, they really helped when I got started. Have an Allnic 7000 H and must say their phonos are generally the best in their lineup. I must say though, BAT upper end phono stages will absolutely slam you. They have balanced inputs also.

As others have said, Audio Research for system synergy.

your concern isnt relevant to high quality tube phono stages. you can get the transparency and the natural sound.