Tube Preamp/solid pwr amp or solid pre/ tube pwr

Once again Al nailed it. Choose the amp that best works with your speakers, with B&W's it's usually ss.

Well I am in the camp of tubed pre-amp with ss power amp or go all tube. I have used a cj tubed pre along with cj ss amp to drive Thiel 3.6's and it was a great combination. The ss power amp can get a better grip on demanding speakers more than tubes can.

Chuck

My personal preference, after years of enjoying a large selection of tube and ss components, is a tube pre and a solid state amp. I tend to spend the most money on my preamp and have found that top end tube pre's have been extraordinarily quiet while yeilding all the sonic virtues that I love about tubes. With solid state amps, I get the wonderful grip on the bass that I like, and dollar for dollar, feel there is a better return when you need a high power amp.

Also, the replacement tube cost on a high power pair of tube mono's is significant, compared to retubing a pre.

Last comment.... having heard and owned many of the B&W's, I think solid state amps match very will with them (I particularly like Classe and Levinson).

chuck,
I think we all agree that ultimately speaker choice will detemine which amp is preferable. The answers above were hypothetical.

Well, it appears as if I'm in the minority, but I have found that a tube pre-amp and solid state amp sound wonderful. But, (huge but), this, in my opinion would totally depend on your price point. Like cars, upper mid fi to lower high end components (tube or solid state) are in my opinion not much different sound wise. But, when you go up in the high end chain, I can't really say whether one or the other is better, but there are sonic differences. there are pros and cons for both mid to upper high end tube and solid state. I'm not in the group that thinks that tube is better than solid state or visa versa. I hear equipment all the time, and to me, I would take quality tube or quality solid state equipment. either one. you have to listen often to different equipment in your home, on your system (one piece at a time). Don't change anything else, not cables, etc. just listen. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. i.e. equipment within the same price points. otherwise it really isn't a fair comparison.

enjoy