Adding tubes to SS system-Tube Preamp Amp or Int?

Getting a tube pre-amp is almost independent of the speakers but a tube amp is very dependent on the speakers. Which speakers will you be using? Which tube amp you get will depend on the efficiency and impedance characteristics of the speakers. The pre-amp on the other hand simply has to match the input impedance of the amp, a much easier match to make. I also like the idea of the Eastern Electric Tube DAC, which I own. I also own a Modwright tube pre-amp. The EE is a great way to get into tubes for digital sources. The other decisions about a pre-amp are about features-which tubes, HT bypass, number of sources, remote, etc. The types of tubes you choose will give you more or less "tubiness". The Modwright is not very "tubey", and that relates to the type of tubes it uses. I think you will enjoy a tubed pre-amp for starters. If you really like it you can then experience a tube amp. I agree with all of the opinions above, they all have merit. Buy used and try things out first. It will take the sting out of buying-selling something that doesn't work out.

Hello Nuck, I can only speak to my system and my tastes in music and all of the above comments have merit. I have a pair of Parasound JC-1s fed by a Herron Audio VTSP-3A tube preamp and a Herron Audio VTPH-2 tube phono stage and the synergy between the preamp and JC-1s is excellent. I have always preferred a tube pre in front of a SS amp. Just my tastes and opinion.
Violin

NNck,

As I understand your setup, you need a tube linestage (instead of a buffer) because you need the volume control. Does the signal then get passed back and through the JC2 circuitry so that the HT passthrough is acting sort of like an external processor loop?

I think you could have some interesting fun trying different tube gear in such a loop, but, it is hard to predict the result with ANY given component and, while you might get some idea of what tube gear sounds like, the reasonable conclusions you could draw from that experience would be somewhat limited.

First, more than solid state gear, I think there is a HUGE difference between different brands/types of tube gear. My system is currently tube-based and I suppose I would be considered a tube person, but, MUCH of the high end gear I least like are tube-based. There is a truly striking difference in sound between, for example, the VTL/Audio Research/BAT sound and the sound of Audionote/Shindo/Kondo gear. There is nothing much in common between the sound of low-powered single-end triode tube amplifiers and a pushpull pentode amp using 6550 output tubes.

To add to the complication, compatibility is harder to achieve with tube gear. On paper, it is much harder to match a tube amp to a variety of speakers (power needs are harder to meet, low speaker impedance may not work well with high output impedance of many tube amps, etc.), it would seem to make sense to do what you are proposing, which is to introduce tubes at the line level. But, in my own experience, even when a tube linestage is supposedly electrically compatible with a particular solid state amp (i.e., low enough output impedance from the linestage), the actual practice is quite wildly unpredictable. So, it comes down to actually trying a combination--I would never try to predict the results. I have gotten more predictable results with solid state linestages feeding tube gear than the other way around. I am not saying tubes feeding solid state doesn't work, I am saying the results are unpredictable, and more often than not, you will not get "the best of both worlds" but something disappointing. If that happens, don't give up or draw any conclusions about tubes.

I do like your idea of at least trying tube gear in the chain. If by chance or by experimentation you hit upon a nice sounding combination that would be great. But, by no means can you then conclude you are enjoying what others consider the "tube" sound. It would be just one of many aspects of "tube" sound.

Be forewarned that it may then set you on a path to trying other tube components, and perhaps, trying different tubes in each tube component. Again, there are vast arrays of different sound that one can get by changing tubes.

The question asked by the OP was which method would provide more of the tube sound/experience. In my experience the tube power amp will have the greater impact of imparting tube character given the critical mating with the choosen speakers. I`ve found that a tube preamp tends to be more chameleon like within a system unless it has overt sonic colorations(which the better ones don`t)

What Tgrisham said.
If you have speakers that would do well with tubes, I would recommend a tube amplifier. IMO, this is where more of the 'tube sound' comes from, but by no means is it that cut and dry.
If your speakers are designed for SS then I would recommend a tube preamplifier.