Tube or solid state

My experience would suggest (along with most of the above) that if you are looking for  classic “tube” sound, the tube amp is more influential than a tube preamp. I believe you can get great sound going either way, and there is no single right answer. My experience would also suggest that auditioning gear in your room, with your system with your ears is much more important that reading reviews online. Early on I fell into the trap of buying gear based on reviews. EVERY time I was underwhelmed, because only I knew what I was really trying to achieve in my home. And there is such a thing as system synergy.

Vinnie Rossi , with his Brama line choose :

Preamp. :  tubes  or SS ( you choose )

Amp.        :  SS

There may be a good reason for the amp. to be SS and not tubes.

tube preamp to tube amp

or 

tube preamp to class A SS

Both really good. Some days I like one, other days, the other.

Either can be great. I really like good solid state gear, but I love tubes. So mostly I end up with tube phono, tube preamp, and tube power amp - sometimes with a JFET MC stage thrown in there. But I definitely still like good solid-state gear, or especially hybrid components - it's not like analog vs. digital, where I love analog and hate digital 😂 

In my opinion, the speaker and the room are what you hear and feel the most. With that stated, I have always preferred a high powered, class A amp(in my case a Coda Model 16) paid with a tube preamp/line stage(Aric Audio Motherlode) and tube phono(Manley Steelhead). The Class A and the tube combo give you all the lush dynamics and punch that you need and you are far less limited in your speaker choice in regards to efficiency.