Tube Pre and SS Power? Or the reverse?

@mojo771 

I live in Winston-Salem.  I’d be happy to give you an introduction to Chris Livengood at Ember Audio in downtown Winston.  Very nice guy and Ember is an amazing shop.  Chris deals Wilson, Dynaudio, AMG, Rega, Dr. Feickert, Octave, Accuphase, Naim, Simaudio, Hegel, and Fezz Audio just to name a few.  He is having a very good sale right now on Demo and Trade In gear.  Might be worth the short drive.  The traffic can be a nightmare, I know, but I can make it to concerts and sporting events in less than 90 minutes in most cases and I live in rural western Forsyth County.

Feel free to reach out.

https://www.emberaudiodesign.com/brands

I have had fantastic results with a Backert tube preamp and a Pass Labs 30.8. It seems to be a great combination of tube like warmth and serious bass control.

I chose tube pre and SS power. Dual-mono class-A designs. It’s the traditional way. but as always, use what sounds best to you. Sure beats the hell out of the Devilaet 400.

I think the only reason I don’t have tube amps are the maintenance and reliability issues. Once burned, twice shy.

Curious re if you use subs, do tubes still run out of steam?

Most listeners would opt for the SS amp/tube preamp option if the object is to get some "tube sound" into your system. My personal system is configured this way. I would love to go all tube but heat is a consideration where I live. In an all Mac system you should not have to concern yourself with matching components. You could go all SS, all tube, or SS amp/ tube preamp. SS pre/ tube amp would be my last choice. It will certainly work but what are the benefits?

I’ve owned an MC462 and a C52 with a variety of tube preamps and power amps rotated into the mix. I think the correct answer is, it depends. But I believe the most logical place to start is tube preamp and SS power amp. Part of the reason is that solid state power is less expensive and more reliable than tubes. I like having a solid state fallback option. I have a fantastic Allnic L-10000 tube preamps and pair it with both tube and SS amplification depending on my mood. 

Off topic: Sounds like you’d like to stick with primarily McIntosh gear. I was of that mindset a few years ago, but I moved away from Mac gear and have been very happy with the results.