Cary Audio: Tube preamp (SLP-98) paired with (SA-200.2) solid state amplifier?

You need to do "serious listening" (furrowed brow, flop sweat from anxiety generated by the mystery of exactly when it will break in) anyway to really enjoy the exact point when the stuff finally breaks through to sounding  settled, otherwise how will you know?

Transistors simply aren't tubes. Period. Although Nelson Pass uses some smart techniques to get close, it's nearly always mentioned that a class A SS amp, the SIT stuff, Class A XA25...well regarded items all...get "close" to a tube amp's sound always with the mention of "the tighter bass from solid state amps." I use a little single ended amp with a tube preamp with solid state subs (efficient speakers...there ya go...I don't think tube subwoofer amps exist, although you could use a couple of Ampeg SVT bass amps or some large mono tube amps maybe) and there is no missing bass "control" at all. 

Last year I rested my Had "sep" tube amp to try a Pass XA-25...the Pass, a somewhat unique and original design unlike any other pass design (including First Watt stuff), is an absolutely brilliant thing that sounds astonishingly good...I still swap in my Had amp sometimes, but man...the XA-25 gets most of my attention these days. Highly recommended. By the way, I use an original series Schiit Freya preamp and having tried many tubes (including NOS Sylvanias...nice tubes) I prefer NOS GEs.