Tube and SS pairs

Beautifully stated @mrmb  and sage advice.

IMO with a hybrid system you still miss a certain organic sound that only all tube systems provide..Todays tube amps use the best power transformers available and can control properly chosen speakers with just as much authority as SS.Gross miss matches aside the best systems will always be:
All tube...
Hybrid (Tube Pre/SS amp)...

By accident, I placed a "ifi Microitube 2 preamp" as a *buffer*, between the oppo 205 and my old SS class AB amp and was floored by the improvement. Been enjoying this set up for months without fatigue.

The ss preamp that was designed for the amp will now collect  dust.

I have also gone back to listening to my bipolar speakers which seem to break up the limitations  from the small room I am in. 

I would highly recommend this small addition to anyone who feels their SS amp is too harsh or clinical sounding.

Clearly, contrary to my flawed logic, tube preamp and ss amp versus ss preamp and tube amp is the right a d cheaper way to go.

Thanks for everyone's input

If you were to build a system from the ground up, would you get a SS amp to mate with a tube pre amp or a tube amp to mate with a SS preamp?

If you have to have some solid state, then I think it better that you get a tube preamp. The issue is that in general, transistors tend to lose low level detail and essentially replace it with brightness (both due to low levels of higher ordered harmonic distortion which tubes lack, which is why tubes sound 'smoother').
No matter how good your amp or speakers are, they won't make up for a loss of resolution upstream. So you want to get that bit right.