Is hybrid power amp the way to go ?

There are other tube designs that will drive many speakers, yet some top designers decided to make tubes and transistors work together. This is in fact quite unexpected for me, I thought that beyond certain level it makes little sense to use transistors from purely audiophile point of view unless you have a philosophy and music taste of someone like the Gryphon's designer Rasmussen.

Makes sense when considering the power/price ratio and that many SS amps benefit in warmth and bloom from tube pre-amplification When budget is not a major consideration, then maybe not so much.

 

Take a look at the Aesthetix Atlas. This hybrid amplifier sold me on the concept.

I think Hybrid amps may be a good path for those who wish to run direct from source, without a preamp.
For those who use tube preamps, I don't know that there is much to gain by using a hybrid amp.

That's for sure, running direct from source to hybrid amp. Still, it puzzles me, and I am talking about brands where cost considerations are not priority in a usual sense. Besides, solid state amps like Gryphon or Swiss amps are just as expensive. Lamm claims in his interview that he overcame some but not all of the transistor's shortcomings, but he remains die hard tube man, even though his hybrid is basically solid state with one tube in the second stage, I think.