Solid-state preamp with tube power amp

not important at all...mixing tube and solid state gear in any combination can produce great music........i've always preferred the sound of my compact discs with a tube somewhere in the signal path.

Actually, this is the setup being used by Tom Evans Audio Design in their ultra-fi gear. They argue that ss is most critical at the preamp level, since tube noise overwhelms the tiny signals there. The preamp just won HiFi+ product of the year; the amp is not yet released but has been mentioned very favorably in that magazine. You can read their arguments at http://www.thebesthifiintheworld.com.

I completely disagree with Elinor. I currently use a solid state preamp with a tube amp, and find it my favorite of all the combinations.

I encourage you to audition a solid state preamp with a tube amp to see if you like it, rather than dismissing it without hearing it.

Michael

I'm a contrarian and use a SS phono amp and preamp, along with a tube power amp. Love it! Quiet as the tomb, musical too.

Bill Thalmann of Music Techology and a former engineer at Conrad Johnson uses a Motif MC-10 solid state preamp with a CJ Premier tube amp. The MC-10 is similar to the CJ PFR.
He is very happy with this combination.