System synergy is a huge consideration even when it comes to furniture. A suspended TT will sound quite different on a concrete slab bolted to the floor than it will on a small table or bookcase and the same goes for a high-mass, non-suspended TT. On my old teak media shelf, I preferred the delicacy and 'air' of the Oracle TT over the authoritative bottom end and fuller sound of the VPI TNT and the Teres TT's. When I moved to wall mounted granite shelves and later, thick hardwood slabs, the VPI sounded the best (I used the same SME arm and Shelter cart on all 3 TT's).
I've gone through my share of TT's, arms and carts but i spent considerably more time and effort auditioning phono pres and my preference is definitely bent toward tubed phono pres and stages. I've heard several SS pres that sound excellent and I would be quite happy with but tubes add a little something that I appreciate, even if its only an aesthetic and being able to roll tubes allows me to add a touch of nuance that may have a better fit with the rest of the system.
As Jerome mentioned, many tubed pres have that fated 'tube rush', usually at higher volumes or with LOMC carts which some folks accept as inherent with tubes. I also have +106dB efficient speaks so any upstream circuit noises become quite obvious and are above my threshold for compromise.
I've had over 25 phono pres and stages in my system over the years with close to a third being SS and the rest tubed. One of the very first checks I perform is for noise, after warm-up, I simply turn the volume up beyond levels that I would ever listen to. If I hear the dreaded 'rush' or any noise at all, off the bat I'm biased against the component and if I can't alleviate the problem with new tubes or cables, the piece is ultimately destined for a better home. I tend to listen at louder than normal levels and with no music playing, if I can tell that the system is on (aside from glowing tubes and lights), there's a noise problem.
To be fair, I have heard almost as many noisy SS pieces as tubed but the pieces I've held onto are all tubed and surprisingly, most are phono stages in preamps rather than stand-alone phono pres. My favorite pres have stages based on variations of the Loesch circuit.
The 2 that I am presently rotating in my system are a James Burgess 'Full Function' pre with transformer step ups and a Supratek Syrah with FET's. Both are extremely quiet and musical with the Burgess having a better sounding line stage and the Syrah being more adjustable and slightly more punch in the bass. The Burgess responds better to tube rolling though the Syrah offers more tube choices. As i mainly listen to records in that system, its a bit of a toss up though I run the Syrah more often than the Burgess. Eventually, I will settle on one...Luckily, its not a race.
