You'll not regret checking into Luxman. It has it all.
Regarding tubes being better for a transparent speaker, I think lots of contemporary high end tube gear has been made to approach solid state in terms of transparency...especially ARC.
One the preamp, VTL 7.5 III, Ref 10, and GAT 2 would without doubt all be excellent, but for me the GAT 2 drops out due to being single ended only, and the Ref 10 get canned based on its impedance requirements which mean you can't drive a subwoofer.
VTL emerges as the top choice among those IMO.
Regarding tubes being better for a transparent speaker, I think lots of contemporary high end tube gear has been made to approach solid state in terms of transparency...especially ARC.
One the preamp, VTL 7.5 III, Ref 10, and GAT 2 would without doubt all be excellent, but for me the GAT 2 drops out due to being single ended only, and the Ref 10 get canned based on its impedance requirements which mean you can't drive a subwoofer.
VTL emerges as the top choice among those IMO.