Next step: tube pre or tube power amp?

A tube amp will make more of a difference than you think. I went from a Carver C-1 Pre to a Cary SLP98P and thought it made a big difference. Then I went from a McIntosh 7270 SS Amp to a Cary CAD 120S Tube amp and it makes a HUGE difference. Good luck in whichever direction you move towards, I think you'll love the tube sound.

While your speaker profile will come into play, I can't quite agree with Tvad's numbers. I've been driving a pair of speakers that are 8 ohms nominal and 4 ohms minimal, 89 db sensitivity, in a fairly large room with a 80 wpc tube amp for a year now with no problems.

Tube amps will give you more *tube* flavor than a tube preamp, however, if your speakers are a difficult load, a tube preamp is the way to go. Another possibility is a good tube integrated amp.....plenty of them out there.

Cheers,
John

Thanks guys for the feedback. My speakers are GR Research AV3s in an AV2 cabinet. They are 8ohm nominal/6ohm minimal and 91db sensitive. I may one day move to the GR Research Neo2x which are the same rating, but much less sensitive - 85db.

I'd prefer a tube power amp for WAF and convenience - I can hide it behind some fake greenery in our AV cabinet...

I am also researching the Peachtree Nova - the integrated tube amp with built in DAC. A bit beyond my budget, but it looks like a great all in one package. My local Rotel dealer is also a Peachtree dealer, so I could a/b them and see what I think.

thanks for the feedback so far