Going from one of the best measuring solid state amps to a tube amp, I am not surprised that you have lost some definition. Given that you have a tube preamp, it might make sense to go back to solid state with your power amp. Your speakers are fairly sensitive at 92 dB, so I am not sure that adding more wattage is going to get you anywhere. I would suggest looking at solid state amps that provide a fair amount of Class A watts and have high current designs. I listen at low levels as well, and my Coda #8 has 18 w of Class A, guessing I rarely if ever venture into A/B.
Need Advice on Amplifiers
About six months ago, I replaced my Benchmark AHB2 power amp with the Rogue Stereo 100 "Dark." While the Rogue is superb on the timbre and tonal qualities of the instruments, I seem to have lost some of the definition I had with the Benchmark. My preamp is the Rogue RP-7, which was wonderful with the Benchmark, so I am not contemplating a replacement for it. My Fine Audio F-702 floor standing speakers recommend amps up to 200 watts per channel, so I want to try something with more power--we do not listen at vey high levels, but I have found that the speakers "open up" at moderately loud levels. I have considered the Bel Canto eX1, the Brystonl 3B3, and the Van Alstine M225 mono blocs, but it then dawned on me that I was very pleased with the Benchmark, so why not try two of the AHB2's in a horizontal beam (passive) bi-amp mode to give me 200 wpc. My preamp has four sets of variable gain outputs, two XLR and two single-ended, So, comments would be appreciated on the named amplifiers and any suggestions as to alternatives I should consider in addition to these. Also, should I seriously consider the bi-amp mode with two stereo amplifiers or should I stick with one more powerful stereo amplifier? Thanks, in advance for your comments and suggestions.
In other developments, I added the Lounge Audio LCR III Gold phono preamp to my system--with the Thorens TD 126 MKII and an Audio Technica MM cartridge, and I am simply stunned by the dynamics, clarity, instrument placement, tonality, and "organic" nature of the resultant sound from a couple of my 1980s audiophile discs, including a Sheffield Lab recording of Lincoln Mayorga and an M&K 45 rpm LP of the Phrisco Phunction. Time to seek out more LPs!