Rodman, I've no desire to split hairs with you because first, you obviously have walked the walk, and second, you're a tube guy, and that's all good in my book!
But I'd like to express my POV more succinctly while at the same time addressing the OP's rather colorful inquiry as to whether he's "bringin a knife to a gunfight"!
So let me put it this way:
One can enjoy far more sonic variety (assuming that's what one is after) rolling the gain stage tubes in a tube amplifier (regardless of whether the preamp is tube or ss) than one can ever have rolling the tubes in a tube preamp and using a ss amp. And I think it a common misconception when people assume the effect can be the same either way. Further, a (decent quality) tube amplifier is just as quiet as any ss amplifier; whereas I have never heard, in my own necessarily limited experience, a tube preamp that was as quiet as a decent ss preamp. And so, the bottom line for me personally (and in the words of the Divine Miss Midler) is "why botha?!" with tube preamps.
As for the part about "bringin a knife to a gunfight", well, yes, one better bring a gun (e.g. a Krell or similar beast) if using a ss amp to drive an electostat; because stats will always try and eat even modest output ss amps. While a knife, in the form of a modest output tube amp, will generally do just fine driving even a large(ish) stat panel; and the worst thing that will happen if a tube amp isn't quite up to the job (probably under 100W) is it'll clip softly -- but not go into oscillation and then cardiac arrest!
And finally, as everyone who knows me knows by now, I just happen to think tube amps sound best with stats ;-) And I now realize a lot of other people think so too!
.
But I'd like to express my POV more succinctly while at the same time addressing the OP's rather colorful inquiry as to whether he's "bringin a knife to a gunfight"!
So let me put it this way:
One can enjoy far more sonic variety (assuming that's what one is after) rolling the gain stage tubes in a tube amplifier (regardless of whether the preamp is tube or ss) than one can ever have rolling the tubes in a tube preamp and using a ss amp. And I think it a common misconception when people assume the effect can be the same either way. Further, a (decent quality) tube amplifier is just as quiet as any ss amplifier; whereas I have never heard, in my own necessarily limited experience, a tube preamp that was as quiet as a decent ss preamp. And so, the bottom line for me personally (and in the words of the Divine Miss Midler) is "why botha?!" with tube preamps.
As for the part about "bringin a knife to a gunfight", well, yes, one better bring a gun (e.g. a Krell or similar beast) if using a ss amp to drive an electostat; because stats will always try and eat even modest output ss amps. While a knife, in the form of a modest output tube amp, will generally do just fine driving even a large(ish) stat panel; and the worst thing that will happen if a tube amp isn't quite up to the job (probably under 100W) is it'll clip softly -- but not go into oscillation and then cardiac arrest!
And finally, as everyone who knows me knows by now, I just happen to think tube amps sound best with stats ;-) And I now realize a lot of other people think so too!
.