hey,
i am grappling with the same question. everytime i get the urge to thro a grand into tubes, i just turn on my rig., i invested in a tube audio design tad-150 preamp awhile ago when they were available and the combination of 200 wpc ss and a nice tube preamp gives you such a nice sound with very little of the maintenance issues that come into play with tubes, and you can drive any speaker you want.
so try a tube preamp with what you have.
i am grappling with the same question. everytime i get the urge to thro a grand into tubes, i just turn on my rig., i invested in a tube audio design tad-150 preamp awhile ago when they were available and the combination of 200 wpc ss and a nice tube preamp gives you such a nice sound with very little of the maintenance issues that come into play with tubes, and you can drive any speaker you want.
so try a tube preamp with what you have.