Geoff you also have HQ tube gear as many of us do I. To many cheap tubes with mediocre components yes you can have to much.
With Tube gear do not skimp.
My tube gear is dead silent also.
Can one have too many tube components in a system?
Especially if one has sensitive speakers? For myself with ZU Omen defs, I have to keep an eye on the gain of the amps I choose since my BHK runs tubes. If gain is too high, tube hiss becomes an issue. However, I see people with tubed amp, tube pre, tubed phono pre, tubed dac......doesn't the tube his (just like tape hiss every time you copy a tape over and over) intensify with every component? Or to pull this off one needs less efficient speakers?