What type of Amp for Ohm Walsh F-5015s?

@mapman  I have often thought that a tube pre-amp with a Class D amp might make a lot of sense.  Conceptually it makes a lot of sense to me as opposed to a tube pre-amp with a tube-amp.. that always makes me wonder what flavor are you getting from the tubes?  Plus I like bass, but I want it relatively tight.  

@michiganbuckeye I would consider the 5000's neutral.  Keep in mind the adjustments on the back do make a difference.  For instance with my pass labs preamp and amp, I prefer the mids and treble in the (+) position (mid-bass and bass are left neutral).  For a while I had a mark levinson integrated amp I was trying.  It was clearly a brighter presentation than the Pass, I ended up turning the treble with it to the neutral position.  

I also happen to be in Michigan.  Drop me a PM if you are interested in a listen.

With separates, just keep in mind that every combo of amp and pre-amp will sound different as well. Tube or no tube.

The key attribute normally for the amp with at least any fully passive Ohms for best performance is high current delivery and damping factor. Class D amps or large bulky, heavy Class a or class a/b amps tend to fit that bill. Tube power amps need not apply IMHO unless one wants to relegate much of the bass to a separate subwoofer, which is uniquely inherent though in @michiganbuckeye's  case with the F5015 model specifically.

I find tube amps or even SS amps that emulate tube amps with higher output impedance/damping factor are not ideal. The larger the OHM Walsh driver the less ideal in that bass will be fatter and less refined and articulate and that also tends to mask mid-range detail.

That’s not to say some might very much like the resulting sound, even if things are not all as optimized from a technical perspective.

In general, I find the tube pre-amp/Class D amp combo done well can be very cost effective and deliver that articulate bass as well as all the rest and makes for a sound that one can just sit and enjoy for hours on end.

Again, with the f5015, teh built in Class D amps will in fact handle the bass, so you can likely use most any amp SS or tube to good effect as long as the setup provides the dual line level outputs for sub. Having an active crossover on-board the amp to be able to refine the sub crossover characteristics as needed sounds like a huge advantage as well, which I suspect is why JS recommended those particular amps.

@michiganbuckeye

One qualification on my above post needed for teh f5015 case specifically is that I believe the f5015 has no subwoofer crossover controls on board in which case the crossover has to be done upstream somewhere and those particular amps JS recommended appear to in fact have the sub crossover adjustments and dual sub specific outputs (not just any line level) needed.

I heard the f5015s at capital Audiofest last year. John Strohbeen had them running off an Outlaw receiver somehow with some outboard device providing the needed crossover apparently. I would assume that Outlaw receiver had dual line level pre-amp outputs that fed an outboard pro audio type sub crossover unit of some sort....don’t recall the details. JS could probably tell you more if needed.

That type of setup using a separate subwoofer crossover unit with dual rca line level inputs and dual sub rca line level sub outputs would add some complexity but open up more amp possibilities, including pre-amps with a spare rca connector type line level output (the main pre-amp out would go to the power amp).   For example the AudioResearch sp16 tube preamp I use has that and I use it to run a sub with a pair of KEf ls50s.  

With an outboard crossover, one amp that comes to mind I have heard and really liked is the tube/Class D hybrid Rogue Pharoah.   I think that has a "processor" line level output that could feed an external sub crossover.

Again, I would not make any big investment without running it by Ohm first just to make sure things can integrate properly.

Whatever amp you choose, those speakers should be the absolute bomb!