Amp vs Preamp

Experiences had of Pre -Power Amp combo's, strongly suggest from an end sound assessment  that a Power Amp' that stands out when matched with one Pre Amp' Type,  can be experienced to appear mediocre, a shadow of what it can be, if the correct match of Pre Amp' is overlooked.

Whether the Power Amp' of a different type is able to lift a Pre Amp's performance, that has not matched well to certain Power Amp's in experiences I have had, is an unknown to me. 

My experiences are that the Pre' is the enabler to that very special end sound.

No preamp still can work with PVC or TVC, but the volume range will be a lot smaller than with preamp.

It seems from the comments that the process is a bit of trial and error vis a vis matching Preamps and Power amps.  I suppose it might be easier to stay within the same lineage or company when trying to match the components.  Or at least using that as a starting point.

To me it is the preamp but of course the amp matters too. Common sense says get a good preamp and marry it to a good amp. ;)

 I suppose it might be easier to stay within the same lineage or company when trying to match the components. 

I think you'd be less likely to get a truly awful combination that way.  But that typed, I know that there are a bunch of members who report sublime sound by mixing & matching.