can anyone recommend tube amp for dartzeel preamp?

I 2nd the McIntosh MC275. There's a MK V recently listed @ $2,800 that you could probably get for $2,600.

I have one and it sounds great and I've had no problems, plus you have access to excellent McIntosh customer support if you ever need it.

this month's Stereophile has an Audio Research integrated that they think very highly of which is priced reasonably; under $5k. OTOH it may not be quite 'tubey' enough to give you that 'change of pace' you desire.

as someone who has your same gear, i have had the same 'temptation' but have never actually scratched that itch. i was always stopped by the realization that unless i go for 'the high priced spread'....a set of used Lamm ML2.1's.....the loss of information compared to the NHB-108 would likely cause me to never actually use the Tube amp much. plus i use the Evolution BNC cables for the 'zeel' 50 ohm interface which make quite a difference too.

you might contact Ruggyboggie who has been using his darTZeel pre with tubed amps for awhile and recently added the NHB-108. the only thing is that he does not yet have the 'zeel' BNC cables so he's not yet in a position to say how the 108 with the BNC'c compares to the tube amp without them.

i still have the temptation to have a set of nice tube amps sitting there i can try when the urge strikes, but every time i get a bit of scratch it gets sucked into tt's, RTR's, or other higher priorities.

I am considering the mcintosh which is well-liked here thanks for the suggestion have you heard it with the dartzeel preamp?

I am tempted with mcintosh mc275 mkv but the folks at hoffman swear by the mc30? I think the mc30 would be more finicky to keep happy even assuming I find a mono pair in good shape. Is the mc275 mkv autobias?

I was also considering the BAT vk55se or the vk60

I think I will stay away from integrated because I love the Dartzeel preamp for line/phono.

I could swing the lesser priced EAR tube power amp too?

Any other less finicky preferably autobias tube amp to consider with 50 watt or more power?

Since my speakers are not high efficiency will stay away from set amp or other lower powered amps.

I would ask Jonathan for his opinion if you have not already yet done so. I cannot respond directly to your question, but note that I have a darTZeel amp and a VAC Renaissance 70/70 Mk. III tube amp that I run with a solid-state, battery-powered Rowland Coherence II preamp. The VAC is a push/pull, 65 watts/channel, zero feedback triode design that autobiases and runs 300B output tubes (it also has a sentry circuit that shuts down any output tube that begins to go outside of safe operating parameters). It is all point-to-point wired, and features very high parts and output transformer quality (ten years ago, the Mk. III retailed for $14K and the Signature version $18K). Mk. III's can be had for between $3K to $4K used. I'm not necessarily advocating this amp - I have no experience running it with Evolution Acoustics speakers - but am simply trying to give you ideas. Again, I would talk to Jonathan if I were you.

with the level of quality of your dartz amp & pre-amp I doubt that a tube pre-amp at under $5000 or even $8000 would give you as much as satisfaction with your s/s dartz amp.
Even though one is s/s and the other is tube, the cheaper tube amp will not give you the same level of refinement as the dartz.
I have tried this route on numerous occasions & it always ends up disappointing. (always to the detriment of the cheaper component.)
Personally I would hold off to that purchase.
However if you would insist, i can highly recommend you give one of those tube lamm power amp a spin. Those have similar level of pedigree as your dartz amp.
Good luck.