Tube vs SS: Mcintosh MC275 VI vs Bryston 7B3 driving Magico S1 MkI

I thought I would share my experience and conclude by asking a question.   
Let's start with my experiment. Yesterday I brought my Magico S1's to a dealer to see how they fared with tubes vs solid state.  By way of background I am looking for new amplification to drive the Magico's and so I am trying different alternatives particularly because many suggest that tube amplification would not have sufficient control of these speakers.  Admittedly they are not the easiest to drive at 86db with a 4 Ohms load that does dip a tad above 3 at higher frequencies.  Right now I am driving them with a McIntosh MA7000 integrated and to which I added a Prima Luna Premium preamplifier bypassing the intergrated's preamp section (a huge improvement over "stock" btw- more detail, texture, and wider soundstage).

So without beating around the bush both the Mcintosh and Bryston were wonderful....but quite different.  I have to say I preferred the Mac's but I should add that the B3 redesign really is a considerable leap forward vs the previous generation.
The Mac had a more organic feel and I could connect to the music with greater ease- the players were more palpable and while delineated individually in the soundstage they seemed to be playing together as a group.  And there was more sense of depth to performance- you could really look into the performance with background instruments more recessed vs the front stage players.   It was really was exceptional and I understand why one of the reviewer who ran them through their paces (Stereophile? I forget) bought them right there and then. 

And Magico does work tube amplification as far as my ears are concerned.  (Maybe a cheaper alternative to Mac could be Rogue M180's....not sure).

Overall, for me I would likely chalk this up more to a personal preference for what tubes can do than necessarily suggesting the Bryston is a lesser product.  In fact, the Brystons were clearly more detailed and cleaner and generally more pristine, with a little less sweetness and warmth in their presentation of the musical event.  They were just a tad more transparent and were clearly superior to the Mac from this perspective.  In terms of soundstage they missed the same depth somewhat, although the presentation was a little wider and went a little further beyond the speakers. They were excellent and some of the criticism leveled at earlier generation Brystons is simply no longer applicable- they are a leap, and I mean a leap, forward in any aspect I can recall.  And throw in the incredible warranty and these can be an amplifiers for life.

I should mention that in terms of preampfification we used the respective brand counterparts for each.  Now of course the question inevitably came up- what if we used the C22 with Brystons?  We did.  It didn't quite work all that well- the sound became more closed in.   But by then we were a little auditioned out and did not make use of the Bryston's gain adjustments for preamp/amplifier matching- another feature that again suggests the Bryston could be ss amplification for a lifetime. 

Anyway, I hope this is helpful and also brings me to my question- hybrid amplification.  Before I decide anything I would like to look into this and I was wondering if anyone has had the opportunity to compare a BHK, stereo or mono, with the Aesthetix Atlas.  To me this would seem like an obvious comparison for anyone wanting to pursue hybrid amplifiers.  Any thoughts?

PS
Re the Magico- many suggests they are dry and un-involving.  I do not think that is a correct assessment.  I think this reputation is more often than not the result of mismatching the speaker with certain electronics and so fro that prespective there is an element of truth.  The specs are not easy to deal with- we cannot forget they are sealed designs which means they can be "ungenerous" if not driven correctly.  And that I would say is one the downsides of Magico, or at least this Magico- they are a pain in the @ss and there are easier speakers to deal with (but I also know what they can do- hence my quest)
Just to give you a sense of my experience with some speakers here's a list: 
- Focal Micro Utopia Be (love them, and no matter what I do these will be staying right here- I run them with a Mastersound compact 845 SET) 
- Thiel 3.7's (not much more needs to be said about Jim's last masterpiece- the problem is that they just do not fit in with the rest of the house and unfortunately I am 'forced' to make some allowance for this- they are going to have to go at some point soon).
- Thiel 3.6's (they are the mains in my home theater)
- Zu Audio Druid IV (I got these when i was experimenting with SET's- say what you will but there is something about the immediacy of super sensitive high Ohm speakers that rivals sophisticated/complicated crossover speakers).