TUBE or SS?

Tubes all the way.Go for Rogue M-120 Monoblocks.2695.00 Rogue 66 Preamp 1295.00.Anthem CD-1 player 1500.00.Coincident Super Eclipse 5400.00 + Coincident Interconnects and speaker cable.1000.00.Its a little more but you should be able to get better than list retail on these items.I have heard 20k rigs that dont sound as good.

Standard marketing answer? It depends! Some things to keep in mind though is that if your speakers need a lot of current to sound their best; solid state gets the job done much better on a per dollar basis. If your speakers are really efficient and naturally tight on the bottom-end then tubes can reward with more openess and warmth in the mid-range. Can you have your cake-and-eat-to? Yes, but generally at a price point beyond where most accomodating spouses will go. I have happily lived with the tube preamp/ ss poweramps (vertically bi-amped) for several years and can vouch for this being a fairly happy compromise.

I think the matching of amp and preamp is emphasizing the wrong pairing. I find that matchning the amp with the speakers is more important. Discounting magic solutions like Krell's CAST, the amp preamp interface is not full of hidden problems. The speaker however can be a benign or devil load for an amp. I own Thiel 3.6s and was forced to a Krell KSA-200S because the speakers wanted lots of current. I tame this bright combo with a SF Line-3. Its a wonderful combination but I had to start with speakers and work backwards.

Here is the answer, for "both world's": Martin Logan SL-3, CD,Wadia 860X (used),AMP. VTL MB-450 sig. monoblocks (used) Pre-amp Z-system RPD-1 REF. (used)and some Cardas "neutral" for cables. I don't think anything would come close at this price range (probably more than10K, however you can substitute cd player for lower model) or at any price range PERIOD!!!

Buy a used BAT preamp. Any with the SE upgrade.This is a tube preamp( I would personaly call it a hybrid) that kicks butt with a class A ss amp.The BAT raises the standard,don't listen to any old timers that say they're too new of a Co. to know what they are doing. Just went on a preamp shoot out,tried most that I read about including the first sound presence deluxe,rogue 99, Blue circle bc3,the AE3 you mentioned also, which held it's own w/ alot more expensive preamps.I know what sounds good the Bat blows all the others away.You will not be sorry.