I'm talking stators here and I think I need BOTH tubed, preamps and amps, I've lived with Gryphons a long time, Kirk, The Ref. Mono 1 and the Electra, however with electrostats they are easily bettered both in speed, soundstage and transparency by every Spectral preamp and amp that I've tried. So for me, if not tubes and preferably Jadis, Spectral is my SS choice. I would also start with a tube pre and later try a tube amp. You should however, if driving a SS amp with a tube pre see to it, that the impedances match, which with modern tube preamps should not be too big a problem.
What's to prefer; tube preamp or tube amp?
I wonder what is to prefer when it comes to amps. A tube preamp or a tube power amp? Many people seem to like the preamp to be tube. I also wonder what the difference is? And what about both amps tubes? And why not an integrated tube amp? Thoughts and question marks that I would like to have straightened out.