Tube Pre with Benchmark AHB2 Amp - anyone doing this?

Systems without a preamp tend to be very sterile and thin sounding... highly detailed but not very musical. Benchmark tend to be that way to start with, so cutting out a preamp is likely to net a very detailed and lifeless sound.  A tubed preamp would help to add weight and naturalness to the sound, particularly in voices and midrange instruments. 

I used the Schitt Frey+ tube preamp with the AHB2. It was rather good, and I did not love the Freya+ but the AHB2 made it sound OK. A great tube preamp and the AHB2 should be very nice.

A DAC with volume control is something I hate. Listen at low volume and hear the difference with using a good preamp.

One the biggest regrets ever .Not buying a tube pre amp years ago . I should have listened @ghdprentice. 

Tube preamp is a good way to go if low distortion SS sound is not your thing.

I moved from tube preamp to SS Freya personally.

Tube preamps have higher output impedance. That can lead to much of the resulting sound being softer, less dynamic, and “easier on the ear”, but for best performance in those areas, you want a SS amp with corresponding high input impedance. So different amps will likely sound more different with a tube preamp. Impedance matching matters more than ever with a tube preamp.

AHB2 input impedance specs look decent for use with a tube preamp, but I can  assure you Benchmark products in general are not designed with tube pre-amps as a primary consideration.

I really enjoy the AHB2's that I have with a Sonnet Morpheus II DAC and Hermes endpoint directly into the amps.  I would like a preamp for functionality and have wondered if with a tube pre I could eke out a little more dimensionality, tone and overall body to the sound.  I certainly do not want a tube sound that is loose and flabby.

I appreciate folks sharing their experience with a tube pre and SS amp, particularly the AHB2.  Thanks.

@mapman tube preamps don't all have high output impedance, and the properly designed ones, sound more dynamic to me than solid state preamps I've had.

@invalid , true, Not all.
Linear Tube Audio for example. That’s due to their proprietary ZOTL technology that makes them unique. Good stuff. Quality more-SS like sound but with tubes. Something different. The “linear” in the name is appropriate.

@mapman it doesn't have to be a proprietary circuit, there are plenty of tube preamps with low output impedance.

Could be. Regardless, the devil is in the details. If using a SS amp with tube pre-amp, imdepance matching is key to getting best results.   If you go with a SS amp that has at least 50-60kohm input impedance, one would expect good results.  We’re it me I would look for 100kohm input impedance minimum to be safe.