combination tube amp and ss preamp?

Yes Yogiboy - the AMC CVT3030 is an EL34 output section with a mosfet preamp section...pretty nice int amp.

I 2nd the other who prefer a tube preamp and SS amp. I ran a couple of B&K amps (ST-140 & EX442 Sonata) with a tube preamp (Music Reference RM5mkII) for many years and it was superb. Those B&K's are some of the tubiest sounding SS amps around and a great value for the money. I like the earlier stuff from B&K, nothing after the Sonata though...

Besides the AMC CVT3030, I really haven't heard a SS pre/tube amp combo; however, I suppose if you have a very lushious sweet tube amp, a SS preamp might tame it a bit....

But for me, if I had a tube amp, I'd would just mate it with a tube preamp - as I had previously for many years...for me - tubes rule and always will.

I thought my philosophy of using a SS preamp with a tube amp was described adequately, but maybe not, so I shall ramble further. There are tube preamps that appeal to me but the balanced dual mono preamp I'm using (Kavent S33) is so good I don't think about it much...my tube power amp simply has a very pleasing 2nd order harmonic slam factor that many SS amps don't have, resulting, for my tastes anyway, in a more involving sound than SS. A preamp's signal is generally at such a low level it should be clean regardless if it's SS or tube so any form of distortion shoudn't be a factor, but the complicated interaction of an amp with speakers is another story and tubes are just more appealing to me. Note how many tubeless SS amps say "tube like" in their hype. I also have tubes in my motorcycle tires due to spoked wheels, and they sound better also.

The problem with mixing a ss pre and tubed amp is input/output impedance... if you find a ratio that works, it is fine... next, over all a tubed amp add much more of the "tube experience" than a tubed pre. If you are after more of the warm tube experience, you would most likely enjoy this combination.

Problem with a tube amp, for a retired HS teacher anyway, is over time you spend more money on tubes than the amp cost.

B&W Diamond speakers have a warm sound already. You probably don't need to enhance the warmness with a tube amp.

Big B&W speakers prefer large high current solid state amp to control the bass and put it in order.

This is just a general understanding but individual taste does dictate choices.