Has anyone mixed SS and tube amps in one system?


I am currently driving my aerial 10ts with a pair of Rotel rb980-bx amps, 125 wpc 80amps max., in a horizontal configuration. I have to say that given the low cost of these amps, the sound stage is pretty good. However, I am looking to open up the music even more. (I listen to alot of vinyl these days, mostly rock but some jazz, and I will be adding a tube phono stage soon that will help my quest for more staging.) My idea is to perhaps use these amps in monoblock (250wpc) config to drive each of the woofers and use a tube amp of about 100 to 150 wpc to drive the mids and high's. Would this pose a problem with matching amps, etc.? Should I look for another solution?
dan_ed
Lots of folks do this but at a minimum you have to deal with differing input sensitivities in the amps. If they don't match you'll have to figure out how to match them (easiest way is with in line attenuators). Depending on the built in crossovers in your speakers you might benefit by using an electronic crossover (the best way to solve gain problems as well) but good ones are expensive. Personally, I'd just find a powerful tube amp to control the entire spectrum. You might be surprised at what 200 tube watts (+/-) can sound like.
I used a combo transistor and tube with best success on Vandersteen 4 A speakers. This was years ago, when Steve McCormack was modifying the Quad transistor "current dumping" stereo amps into mono blocs. I used one Quad per channel with dual Vandersteen outboard crossovers and ran Counterpoint SA 4 OTL tube mono blocks on the top.

Oddly enough, years later Vandersteen offers the model 5, which has a high powered mono transistor amp built in to drive the subs, and many users drive the top with Wolcott or other suitable tube amps.

Time marches forward and full circle.
Thanks for the responses! I'm not sure about the Vandy 4A's specifically, but it seems that I recall the Vandy's being somewhat inefficient, as are my 10t's. I suppose I came upon this configuration idea as a way to help insure that I could feed them all the current they might want via the transistor amps and let the tubes provide the magic. I've not yet used tubes, but I get the impression that most of tube amps with enough power to handle an inefficient speaker will either require more maintenance than I care to get involved with or simply cost too much for my budget. BTW, my 980's have an input sensitivity/impedance of 1V/33kohms. I don't know how this compares to most tube amps as I have not studied them intensively yet, however this does not seem to be unusual.
Use an electronic EQ and never look back again.
A used Rane can be had for about 150, and I currently run a modified Rane into a Muse 160 II for the subs and use either a T-hold S300 II or a Cary SLA-70 for the uppers.

I find that the T-hold hasn't been in, in a while but if I hook up the big screen for a real action packed movie with lots of bam and slam, I put the T-hold in.

jeff