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

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.

Well said and reasoned Raquel. I feel the proliferation of low impedance speakers(and lower efficiency) was a wrong move in high end audio. Done most likely due to the relatively cheaper cost of power with the advent of SS amplifiers.

Once again Al nailed it. Choose the amp that best works with your speakers, with B&W's it's usually ss.

Well I am in the camp of tubed pre-amp with ss power amp or go all tube. I have used a cj tubed pre along with cj ss amp to drive Thiel 3.6's and it was a great combination. The ss power amp can get a better grip on demanding speakers more than tubes can.

Chuck

My personal preference, after years of enjoying a large selection of tube and ss components, is a tube pre and a solid state amp. I tend to spend the most money on my preamp and have found that top end tube pre's have been extraordinarily quiet while yeilding all the sonic virtues that I love about tubes. With solid state amps, I get the wonderful grip on the bass that I like, and dollar for dollar, feel there is a better return when you need a high power amp.

Also, the replacement tube cost on a high power pair of tube mono's is significant, compared to retubing a pre.

Last comment.... having heard and owned many of the B&W's, I think solid state amps match very will with them (I particularly like Classe and Levinson).