Tube Pre/ Class D Amp - Who has done it?

I have a Cary SLP-05 tube preamp and used a well known high quality 500 watt GaN class D amp for a while.  

The sound was comparable to the better Class D amps I have heard except truly the speed of this amp was off the charts.  It was able to delineate differences in rapid fire percussion like no other amp I have owned or heard.  Actually topped the speed of the Pass XA25, another unusually rapid fire amplifier.  

I just did not prefer the overall sound of the amp.  Somewhat drier, matter of fact, not even a hint of glow.  

I would recommend a quality class D amp if you need lots of relatively economic power for current hungry speakers like Magnepan or have a need for amplifiers with a light weight compact footprint.  

Based strictly on sound quality the answer is no.  

Due to a recent change in speakers, I decided I needed a more powerful set of monoblock amps than my Herron M2 class A/B amps (160 watts each) which were matched with a Herron VTSP-360 tube preamp.

I decided to give the PS Audio M1200 Stellar monoblocks a try. They are Class D, and 600 watts each. They have a single tube in the input stage.

This turned out to be a nice pairing, providing the power needed for my power hungry Gershman Studio xDB speakers while giving up nothing in sound quality to the Herron amps, which sound amazing, but just didn’t have enough grunt for the Gershmans.

I also have an older Wyred 4 Sound stereo amp in a second system paired with an ARC LS26 and Klipsch Quartet speakers. The W4S amp is just a little rolled off in the treble, which results in better control of the "shouty" nature of the Klipsch speakers. It’s in a bedroom system and not set up ideally or ever played very loud, but sounds great at moderate volumes. It could be a nice main system for someone on a budget.

I use Atma-Sphere Class D amps during the summer with an Atma-Sphere tube preamp.  It’s a very nice combination as you might expect.  I still prefer the Atma-Sphere tube amp during the remainder of the year unlike some who have reported here in the past, including its maker.  Like everything else in this hobby synergy is the key.

I have a Shindo preamp into Quicksilver V4 monos(170w into 8 & 4 ohms w/kt150s). Went to a difficult stand speaker, 85 dB, 4 ohm dipping down to 3.2, ouch!  Tried class D power amps because of the drip in impedance, base got faster but everything else, (ie, what I call tube magic) was lost. 
 

Class D has its place in my opinion, just not in a critical listening environment when the life of the music is most important.  

@daytrader bass got faster but everything else, (ie, what I call tube magic) was lost. Class D has its place in my opinion, just not in a critical listening environment when the life of the music is most important.  

+1, yep, and the difference is notable when comparing to good tube amplifier designs and tubes. Getting closer but not there yet [in most cases]. A few designers claim to be as good as or better now with Class-D, and hope they keep working at it. Will be interesting to see more Class-D powering all parts of the main speakers [not just low freq] showing up at the shows next few years, as tbd.