Considering moving to separates with a tube preamp-appreciate recommendations

When sitting down to audition your line of amplifiers and without regard to price, are you able to describe what differences will be noted as we cycle through your line of amplifiers, including the new class D?   I would post this as a separate thread, but I don’t want to pressure you to answer such a question.

A lot depends on the speaker used for our OTLs. If the speaker is very easy to drive the differences are slight- from the S-30 up to the MA-2. But the MA-2 can drive speakers that some of our smaller amps cannot (for example, Sound Labs need at least the MA-1, but the MA-2 is better). But generally, the larger the amp, the more authority it has without sacrificing any of the nimble nature of the smaller amps.

The class D sounds very similar to our tube amps but is slightly more transparent. It has the advantage of being able to drive a much wider range of speakers.

Thank you all for these helpful comments and suggestions!

Definitely check out the Yamaha M-5000.  It's a beast of an amp, despite the 100 watt rating.  I replaced a Coda No. 8 amp with the M-5000 and could not be more pleased.  

Also keep an eye on the retailers that sell them.  Not long ago one had refurbished ones for 40% off the new price.

grab some power !!

stereo amp or if have room, mono blocks, 

new cables,  great system, speakers need power, not for loud, but for smooth listening, effortless sound.

demo some.....

power is your friend

For tubed preamp either the Supratek Chardonnay at $2000 base price or the Cabernet 6SN7 at $3000.  For amps look at the Kinki Studio EX-M7 stereo amp at $2800 or the EX-B1 mono pair at $3700 or if you want an American made amp the Van Alstine SET 500 for stereo at $2800 or the DVA 225 mono pair at $3400. Depending on the combo you chose you would have between $3500-$5000 for a quality DAC.  I've owned the BHK preamp/250 combo and sold them both for the Supratek/Kinki combo.  The BHK preamp needs to be run into a fully balanced amp or it is noisier than it normally is anyway.  Plus it's extremely picky about tube matching. The 250 while a good sounding amp is heavy and puts out a lot of heat.