Newbi seeking advise - why tubed pre-amp?

You should get one for the reasons listed and stay away from one for the same reasons. You have to be willing to put in the time, money, and effort to find the tubes that bring out the best in your system. Then you have to constantly be concerned that the tubes you chose could be inferior to others you haven't heard. Add that to the fact that tubes slowly deteriorate and you have to be concerned about when to replace them. Then whenever you replace a component or tube you have to assess whether another tube would work better with it than the one you are using.

Don't get me wrong, I think that a tube system with the optimum tubes for it can be magical, but there's the rub. There are so many variables that it is easy to become obsessed with tube rolling and miss out on the music. I know some of these concerns apply to the differences in solid state gear but the variables are greatly reduced.

It boils down to whether you are willing to deal with the above or just accept what the solid state component gives you. I'm all solid state at the moment and think I can compete head on with the best. I've done both and right now I'm happy without the tubes. I miss some things that tubes brought to my system but overall I'm happier where I am.

Just listen to an AN DAC. I used to think that digital sources shouldn't be tubed too - and I love tubes - but AN changed my mind...

More on Jolida - The company is pretty responsive, and those that carry them can do the biasing - which is straightforward and clear in almost all instruction booklets - I mean, these things were common in households for forty years - but requires a trip to radio shack. Have the dealer tell you how though, and if they can't explain it clearly, go to another dealer or figure it out for yourself. Biasing allows you not to fry your amp (a short answer). Also Ming Da, Cary (self biasing) and EAR make excellent integrateds, some more expensive than others - some also have head phone pre-amps if you have it in an office. And don't worry about wattages, but be careful about speaker pairings.

Paraphrasing Bob Crump from an earlier related thread, a really good SS active preamp is very challenging and costly to design and build. Good tubed preamps are less costly.

it get you the "tube sound" without the expense of a tube power amp. Tube amps tend to be expensive (even more so for powerful ones). Plus the power output tubes in a tube amp wear out more often and cost more than line level tubes. Hence the appeal of tube DACs, phono stages, and linestages. Costs and inconvenience aside, I still prefer tube amps over tube linestages and DACs. You get more of the tube sound that way.

I prefer tube amps, but most speakers aren't optimally driven with tubes. Which lessens the appeal for most everyone else.