What amp &pre amp are the best for Hales T8

big cj's,arc's and macs will do, but hales are so neutral, that they sound great with any quality ss amp. driven with pretty much any quality ss from 200wpc up, they will be outstanding. articulate and balanced from top to bottom. otherwise stay with larger tube push/pull

Anything high curent, with large capacitors. Stay away from Adcom, Rotel, etc. I have a pair of Transcendence 5's and love my Eagle amp paired with it. Perfect match. You can find one used cheap enough...then send it to Russell at EKSC for a rebuild. Again, perfect match, and you'll never buy another solid state amp.

I have the T8's (current set-up is CJ PFR pream w / Ayre V-5xe amp). Someone that actually sold them a while back (as part of the Hales line)informed me that they best they ver sounded was when they were driven by the Classe' CAM-400 monoblocks. He suspected that the Large BAT's (SS) would also be a good match. He recommended lots of power.....which I disagree with but there you have it.

I know you desire tubes. One option might be a used VT-200 (ARC).

I've owned 2 pairs of Hales T-8, sold my first pair, big mistake, took me several years to find a new pair.

You need a very stable big power SS, older generation KSA-200 was a very enjoyable match, upgraded to Krell MDA-500 monoblocks who bettered the KSA-200 in every way but one, lets call that musicality, made me get bored after listening for 30 minutes. Treshold T400 was also very boring. Bryston etc dont do too well, you need a very stable SS amp.

Mark Levinson 27 did a nice job, a bit lacking in ultimate power though.

Chord is a nice SS match, very fast, punchy dynamic sound, bigger models are pretty expensive though used.

I found VTL and Manley Amps work best on them. The VTL ST-185 Sig mono's being a good budget choice, lacking in ultimate power though, especially in triode mode, try to get MB-450sigs at least or higher powered older models. Use svetlana 6550 winged C tubes for a warmer "tubey" sound, EHX KT-88 for a more neutral more detailed clearer sound.

Manley Reference 440 or 500 models are the best match up to today, no power limitations with those at all. Midrange sounds sweeter, more seductive then VTL's. Same applies for power tubes as VTL models.

I currently own Manley Reference 500's with KT90 tubes, best so far. I dont see myself parting from this setup the coming decade or so.

Oh damn just noticed last reply is dated 2007, posting anyway didnt type all of this for nothing ;)

hales are classics...clean power, and they'll take care of the rest.