Walt's is generally correct. But think about this for a minute.
Most preamps have a couple tubes at most, many that are fairly inexpensive to replace. A 6SN7 or 12AU7 based preamp may have tubes that last 3-5+ years easily and can cost as little as $25-50 to replace them (about what is cost to fill up your car's gas tank). Is that really too expensive? Especially if you enjoy the sound you get from the active, tube based preamp. I used a tube preamp for many years and just replaced the two gain stage tubes and rectifier every 5 years or so (with daily use).... just because I figured I might as well. I NEVER had a tube fail.
Replacing and matching the output devices for your Plinius amp may require a lot more effort and cost (if the devices are even available now).
Perhaps poorly designed tube gear or designers who want to set their tubes on fire might account for tube's reputation for issues (or tube amps with LOTS of matched output tubes) but a tube preamp should be dead reliable for years of daily use, even with multiple, daily on/off cycling IMHO.
dkalsi wrote:
Thanks, Walt.
I think I will stay with my Plinius solid state amp. I was thinking about replacing my passive pre with a tube preamplifier.
So I was curious if I should be concerned with turning the tube pre-amplifier on multiple times a day.