amp -preamp combination question.

I had bad results when trying to pair SS Pre to Tube amp.. Much better match in my expereance with Tube Pre, SS amp.

I'd been using a tube pre with a SS amp for a few years before buying a tube amp. A cash crisis forced me to sell my tube amp and return to my old configuration. I forgot how much I enjoyed the dynamics and quick attacks of the solid state amp. The tube preamp I own uses 6SN7 tubes which produce a nice tone and mated with the solid state amp creates a big, bold, warm and dynamic sound.

I have tried many different solid state amps with this tube pre and only had trouble with one because of the impedance matching issues Mrtennis mentions. It was a beautifully sounding amp, but it had no beans with my preamp.

I have SS top of the line preamp with triode tube amp, Amazing combination, a lot of punch, you wouldnt want any more without breaking your ears (and that´s 12 watts)Clarity precision...

I never heard a tubed preamp I liked with my tube amps(maybe its just me), too mushy, undefined...

I now have a Resistor passive unit and it kills the SS preamp on clarity, silent backround, bass, and yes dynamics... The main problem with passives is making them work in your set up, but once you get it WOW.

Mrtennis has a point about DC current, It was recommended to me that I should place a coupling cap either at the input of the tube amp or at the output of the SS pre...
I hear Mark Levinson uses input coupling caps on his Amps...anybody know about this?

Loosing the resolution that a good tube preamp offers over almost any solid state is an unacceptable compromise for me. 25 years ago I ran solid state with a tube amplifier. It kinda helped with the tube amps I ran back then (to give a kind of fake improvement in detail by brightening things up a tad) but with the much higher resolution tube amps available now days the faults of even really good transistor preamps become rather obvious.

Once you've lost that resolution from the front end of the system, there's no way to get it back later!