Wylmars - I own have owned Tannoy's for 20 years. I use tube preamp with solid state power amp. I would suggest you try some alternatives out - do not assume anything. The Tannoys are very revealing of amplifiers, many highly regarded amps both tube and solid state have been seen off by "lesser" amps in my experience. The less forward presentation you describe is the Tannoy 15" sound with most amps. Personally I only use tube preamps but dont mind solid state or tubes for power amps provided they are transparent and maintain excellent timing and coherence with the chosen speaker.
Tannoy Westminister Royal SE Pre-amp Preference?
For thirty years, I have been a proponent of electro-static speakers. Six weeks ago, I acquire brand new Tannoy Westminister Royal SE speakers. My electronics have been tailored to electro-statics; powerful solid-state power amps (Classe Omega Omicron) with tube pre-amps (ARC REF 5). Now it seems low-power high-quality tube amp(s) are in order with the Westminister speakers. My question is simple (hmm ...): should I consider using a high-quality solid-state pre-amp with equally high-quality tube (Viva Auroa) power amps? Or, should I retain the ARC pre-amp for use with tube mono-blocks/amp?