Tube AMP or SS

I would go with Music Reference RM-9

I agree you should think about getting a good integrated amp with HT bypass and use the yammy for HT only. Adding a power amp isn't going to help the less than stellar pre-amp section of the HT receiver. Clarity and soundstage is more likely to come from a good pre-amp section.

Whether you choose tubes or not is another issue. At your price point you are looking at lower powered but integrates as noted by others. Pretty much any good integrated at $1k used will seriously outperform the yammy for music.

OK, please excuse my ignorance, but why tubes have such low output watts? I was looking at a YAQIN-300C and is only 9.5w per channel. Is tubes output calculated diff than a reg amp?

No Danny, watts are watts, and they are calculated exactly the same way, whether by tube or transistor.

It's just that some people have really, really, efficient speakers (100+ dB@1W), so they only need single digit power to run them. And that camp believes that everything is in the first watt. Get that right, and not much need for anything else. Get that wrong, and 100 more watts won't help a bit.

You can find tube amps that put out 800wpc. They are expensive, big, heavy, and put out an insane amount of heat. But, they are there for the having.

So far you have been given good advice. If you picture the sound in your room like a pot of soup, you will understand it better. Anything you put in the soup will alter the taste a bit. Although separate, if you view amp and pre as one you'll get a better picture of what they contribute to the overall sound in your room. A good amp would be a waste of money. A good tube "integrated" would improve the sound. "Primaluna" integrated is the most "bang for the buck", and that's what I recommend.

In regard to "tube" or "SS", the only way you can find out; is to try tubes.