Hybrid tube / SS system


Hello...

Long time reader...that is, I see the emails roll in for the daily and weekly recp sessions..and they are very interesting. 

I have wanted to move back to tubes.   As a teenager in the early 70's I had a makeshift old workhorse 1959 General Electric G7700 Integrated amp that I loved...  In 1976, I managed to secure a Sansuai 1000a receiver...that I still wish I had. 

Back in October of '83 I secured Yamaha separates (as a 24 year old...I had to have them!) I was convinced that these separates were royalty. - C-70, M-70 and (recently re-coned) Cerwin Vega D-8's and a Grado Platinum 1 cartridge and a Dual 1219 Turntable that I secured. 

Then...last year I found another General Electric G7700 that I got back up and running...that I put into storage after a couple of weeks.

My point:  As a younger person, I had seen the light of tubes...and I want to move back... I want to see about building a hybrid system.  Should I bother buying a tube amp or a tube preamp...replacing one of the Yamaha separates? (I read that tube preamp is usually the way to go). Or is it a bad idea altogether?  I know there is  Impedance issues doing the hybrid route.   And, I am not sure of the "audio world" worthiness of the Yamaha units; that is, they work perfectly since a complete "go-through" (sans caps) was performed a couple years ago but I am not sure if they stand up to time in the audio-gear world, per se.  I do want a bit more warmth and color.  The Yamaha units seem rather bland and flat with their "Natural Sound".  Or am I crazy?  Or, are the Cerwin Vega D-8's an issue?

I know I am all over the map here...

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?  Anything would be be appreciated.

vinylspin
vinylspin
Tekton Impact Monitors would be a significant upgrade over the CV's! And quite affordable! Pair them with a Prima Luna integrated tube amp for a bit of audio heaven!
Not only has equipment (and recordings) changed a lot over the past 30+ years, but your own tastes and hearing have probably changed a good bit over time as well (I know mine certainly have).  Not that there’s not some excellent gear from back then — there certainly is and some probably fully serviceable today — but this seems to me to be a great time for you to get out to some dealers and/or audio shows and hear what’s out there now.  FWIW, here’s an idea of a hybrid system that wouldn’t cost a ton but likely sound awesome:

Don Sachs tube pre: $2500 w/all options
Valvet E2 Class A amp: $2195 available here now
Spatial Audio M5 Sapphire: $2950 available here now

Best of luck in whatever way you eventually go.