Dear Thom-y:
I am afraid that I do not own Sofias, nor have more than thirty minutes of personal experience with them, nor do I have personal experience with any Sim Audio equipment, so I do not know how helpful, if at all, my comments will be. I also don't know if you have a preference for new or used equipment (I have ideas about "used").
First, solid-state electronics that are generally known to be musical and non-fatiguing ...
Used Amps: of the well-known and available brands, the ones that come to mind are Rowland, Classe and Naim. The Rowland 6 monos, 8 stereo, and 9 monos sound quite close to a top-shelf tube amp (if there is any line of high-end solid-state electronics that is known as "the brand that sounds like tubes", it is Rowland). The Classe CAM and Omega series amps are also known to be voiced toward the warm and musical. As for how the Rowland or Classe they would work with Sofias, I would guess great, but you just never know with this stuff until you try. The Naim stuff is a bit idiosyncratic, but one Stereophile reviewer said that the modest 30 watt/channel Naim integrated sounds great with the Sofias. The Sofias are easy to drive, so you have a lot of amp options.
Used Preamps: Rowland again. The Synergy IIi is a really fine preamp (still in production, too).
I do not believe that you should foreclose the option of tube gear, as good tube gear is quite reliable, and in my opinion, usually more musical sounding.
I am sure other Audiogon members will give you additional ideas.
Good luck.
I am afraid that I do not own Sofias, nor have more than thirty minutes of personal experience with them, nor do I have personal experience with any Sim Audio equipment, so I do not know how helpful, if at all, my comments will be. I also don't know if you have a preference for new or used equipment (I have ideas about "used").
First, solid-state electronics that are generally known to be musical and non-fatiguing ...
Used Amps: of the well-known and available brands, the ones that come to mind are Rowland, Classe and Naim. The Rowland 6 monos, 8 stereo, and 9 monos sound quite close to a top-shelf tube amp (if there is any line of high-end solid-state electronics that is known as "the brand that sounds like tubes", it is Rowland). The Classe CAM and Omega series amps are also known to be voiced toward the warm and musical. As for how the Rowland or Classe they would work with Sofias, I would guess great, but you just never know with this stuff until you try. The Naim stuff is a bit idiosyncratic, but one Stereophile reviewer said that the modest 30 watt/channel Naim integrated sounds great with the Sofias. The Sofias are easy to drive, so you have a lot of amp options.
Used Preamps: Rowland again. The Synergy IIi is a really fine preamp (still in production, too).
I do not believe that you should foreclose the option of tube gear, as good tube gear is quite reliable, and in my opinion, usually more musical sounding.
I am sure other Audiogon members will give you additional ideas.
Good luck.