Could this be one reason tubes (and perhaps records) sound better?

Background noise causes us to focus on important noise like music.

I listen better with my wood stove hissing warmth and also with a malt in hand. First point relevant, second not so.... 

If you suffer from tinnitus (I do), it becomes difficult to not hear your interior, artificially high noise floor. I'm one of the lucky ones who doesn't hear distinct notes, transients, or percussive sounds.

White noise is one of several perceptual tools that "mask" white noise. The mechanism-of-action is basically misdirection...flooding the brain with non-specific aural cues makes it harder to focus on one's tinnitus. White noise is effective: I use it for sleep and wouldn't want to do without it. 

And thanks to a pretty bad case of chronic migraine, I have several rescue medications that also mask tinnitus to a degree, albeit by very different means than white noise.

For what it's worth, I use either pink noise or gaussian noise mp3's to burn in gear. Gaussian noise is the best sounding/least artificial of the noise variants I've heard.

And yes, echoing several above posts, there's a history of using noise of various kinds in audio gear.

desktopguy, sounds like you are handling your tinnitus very well. I have had two patients that were crippled by it. Interestingly, both developed Alzheimer's. So, as long as you can handle it you're in business:) The technique of masking not only works for tinnitus but other sensations the most important one being pain. Any child will tell you the cut feels better after you put a Band-Aid on it. When I give an injection I give a firm pinch which covers up the needle stick. The pinch and the Band-Aid are masking sensations. 
Desktopguy, just in case you did not know 3 new meds where just approved for migraines. Erenumab (Aimovig) is the one I am familiar with.
It is a once a month subcutaneous injection that decreases the frequency, intensity and duration of migraines. I have not had a chance to use it yet.
You might want to take it up with your MD. 

In fact my high school Calculus teacher (easily the smartest high school teacher I’ve ever seen) in the early 1990s referenced a study with the same findings: adding a small amount of static noise improves human detection of low-level signals. The topic came up seemingly quite randomly, in one class. But I remember it quite clearly, and certainly thought of it when I got into vinyl in the 2000s!

Human perception is complex. With tubes the idea is that low order distortion is sonically pleasing, and that higher levels of it can mask lower levels of high-order distortion which is very objectionable to human perception. So run tubes and vinyl; stop fighting your nature :)