Tube Preamp/solid pwr amp or solid pre/ tube pwr

While as a general rule I would advocate for the ss preamp/tube power amp combination, in this case I think you may be asking the wrong question. The overriding question that should be asked, IMO, is what kind of power amplification, and what particular power amplifiers, would be the best match for the particular speaker.

I couldn't find impedance curves for the Nautilus 802. But if they are anything like the curves of the 802D or the Nautilus 801, the sound that is produced will vary dramatically depending on the output impedance and the drive capability of the particular power amplifier. With those impedance curves, among other differences tube amplifiers will give greater emphasis to the upper mid-range and lower treble, while solid state amplifiers will give greater emphasis to the mid-bass region. In addition, many amplifiers, especially some tube amplifiers, will have difficulty driving the speaker adequately in the deep bass region, due to the combination of low impedance and highly capacitive phase angles that is reached at some frequencies in that region.

So my feeling is that the initial question that should be asked and researched is what power amplifiers have users of the particular speaker found to be best.

Regards,
-- Al

I am a solid state person and I use B&W 830(d)s with Parasound JC1s. These are somewhat power hungry speakers and I cannot imagine these being driven with a 25 Watt tube power amp, at least not to realistic transient levels. For low level listening, maybe.

Of course, you can get much higher power tube amplification, but it's pricey.

I don't see an issue with using tube front ends with solid state power. For some, it may be the best cost effective combination that takes advantage of the strengths of both technologies.

Mechans,
Your opinion does counter conventional wisdom but I agree with you. If you`re after the 'tube effect' i.e. 3-D, the tube power amp has more influence than the Tube pre with SS amp(not saying this approach does`nt work for many however).

I'm solidly on the solid state pre to tube amp bandwagon. In fact, I said it on another thread just moments ago. I'm not a solid state person as much as a "water based meat pile" (I think that's the proper scientific description). My stereo rig audio formula is this: Clean and pure (pre/sources) to greasy (tube amp) to accurate (speakers).

I'm surprised to see so many people advocating a solid-state preamp with a tube amp - they are correct.

But as has been hinted at, few tube amps are able to adequately drive typical modern loudspeakers, which feature low impedances in the bass - only really expensive tube amps have the power supplies and output transformers required to get the job done.

As for solid-state preamps, the problem with the vast majority of them is that they sound "electronic". However, the really expensive ones have all of the best qualities of tube preamps - natural sound and timbres, excellent layering of space - but are far quieter, which is crucial at the preamplification stage, and can drive long runs of cables, which most tube preamps cannot.

The bottom line is that a solid-state preamp with a tube power amp is a superb way to go, but only if you have the means to play at a very high level - stated another way, a tube preamp with a solid-state amp is the way to go in my opinion, all things being equal, unless you have a lot of money to spend. A lot of people would like to think otherwise, but average solid-state preamps and average tube amps have fundamental problems that seriously compromise performance, and this is why the tube preamp + solid-state amp combination is popular.