Is a tube phono better than ss?

Mallen123
The tubed Zesto phone stage being quieter than the SS Tom Evans is saying a lot and suggests a very commendable design-implementation.

I agree completely with what Salectric posted. My own preference is for tube-based phonostages. I have also heard plenty of dead quiet tube phonostages (e.g., my Viva Fono) and some surprisingly noisy solid state ones (e.g., Boulder), so I would not generalize about noise issues. Most of the tube units I like happen to require the use of a SUT or have one built in at the front end of the unit, but, I cannot say that this is a requirement for good sound (Some that avoid use of a SUT have some noise issues because of the need for additional gain stages or use a transistor gain stage at the front end).

The only solid state phonostage that really interested me is the Lyra Connoisseur. I heard it at a show and the system it was in sounded great--very dynamic, harmonically rich and vivid. At lower price points, I've heard plenty of nice solid state stages even though they are not my absolute favorites. Some examples include the top of the line Naim phonostage and the much more modest Linn Linto.

Jmcgrogan, I have to respectfully disagree with you this one time.

Is a tube phono better than ss?
Yes.
Is ss phono better than tube? Yes (no:) HA

"My experience is that it mainly speaker dependent."

I would tend to agree with that.

Its dependant on the overall system and the sound it delivers really, but I think teh speakers are the main thing that you build around and all the rest will fall into place around that based on personal preference more so than any inherent superiority of tube amplification versus SS.

No doubt many will disagree with me on this, especially tube amp lovers, who tend to almost always prefer tubes and the unique things that often only tubes can do.

Neither is better, any more than chocolate is better than vanilla or vice versa. IT all can be mighty tasty and appeal to the masses if done well. That's the key! Quality trumps technology when it comes to these things.

I will say that almost every reference system I have heard that I tend to prefer tends to have a tube or two in the mix somewhere, though not necessarily in the phono stage. The one I have heard that was truly reference quality with no tubes was a very high end and costly mbl system.

In fact, I think appeal of tubes is greater when used to add some needed flavoring to digital, though there is no basis to say the preferred results are quantifiably "better" than otherwise. The opposite is more likely the case.

I have no tubes currently in my second system which I think now sounds quite spot on and better than ever, even with tubes in prior. I do use an amp there though that is designed to be a reasonable SS alternative to a tube amp.

Just want to add an observation that is related Atmasphere's comment about surface noise. Perhaps we are talking about the same thing, but I would describe it this way (and acknowledging the dangers in generalizing):

To my ears, LP surface noise heard when using a tube phono stage often seems to be removed from the music content; almost as if it is occurring in a different plane, and as a result can be less obtrusive. Using a ss phono stage it seems to be more a part of the music and consequently more difficult to ignore. IMO and based on using many different pre's of both persuasions over the years.