Lush and Romantic Tube Amps

To atmasphere:    Knowing your background of tube design, etc., would you recommend perhaps using a SS power amp with a tube preamplifier?  Or perhaps a ss / tube hybrid integrated?  Thanks.

What amps have you heard to make you think you want warm and lush?  Maybe mention those amps to give people a point of reference.  I ran CJ Pr.12xs (triode amps w/el34’s) for quite a while.  They were probably the warmest and lushest amps CJ made at the time.  I still use tubes but no longer prefer that older CJ sound when compared with what they offer today.  If you truly are looking for warm and lush I recommend you look for a pair of CJ Premier 8’s.  They come up on the used market occasionally and will be exactly what you are looking for.  Plus they will give you the power atmasphere says you need.  I hope you have good A/C though because they will put out some heat.

But going back to warm and lush, make sure that’s what you really want.  Many people think it’s what they want until they get it.  I mean who wouldn’t want warm and fuzzy😎.  Personally with your speakers (which I lust for btw) I don’t think warm and lush is really what you should be looking for.

Speakers seem to require lots of power. I would go with a more powerful tube amplifier especially if you've got a bigger room.

Just to clarify a little more what I started out trying to say above, what I should have asked is what warm and lush amps have you heard that you’re trying to replicate?Assuming you didn’t like the CJ sound you mentioned in your other thread doesn’t necessarily mean you will like warm and lush.  There is lots of middle ground.

To atmasphere:    Knowing your background of tube design, etc., would you recommend perhaps using a SS power amp with a tube preamplifier?  Or perhaps a ss / tube hybrid integrated?  Thanks.

@gregjacob If the speakers are low efficiency as the speakers of the OP, perhaps yes if the amplifier used isn't harsh.

'Warm and lush' is a sign of a prodigious 2nd harmonic. Our ears interpret the 2nd and 3rd as 'warmth' and these harmonics can mask the presence of higher ordered harmonics (5th and above) which the ear interprets as brightness and harshness (typical solid state attributes).

There are class D amps that don't make the higher ordered harmonics like traditional solid state amps do, and so sound very much like a very good tube amplifier. Driven by a tube preamp, such class D amps can be extremely life-like and satisfying.