08-15-14: Maz65
@I was asking for suggestion because coupling tube preamp and solid state amp could be very critical but I feel to follow this way, because I hear the potential of this solution.
Maz65 (System | Threads | Answers | This Thread)
Yes Maz65 a tube pre to a solid state power amp/s needs to be thought about, as it's just like impedance matching a passive pre to a solid state
A tube pre's are generally much higher in output impedance than a solid state pre's, therefore they need amp/s that have higher input impedances, 47kohm or higher would be a good start, there is no problem with tube amps because they are usually 100kohm input.
But your Sonus Faber Elipsa Red to get the very best out of them demand an amp like I outlined above, one that gives current all the way down to 1ohm, and that means solid state BJT (bi-polar) output stage that can almost keep doubling it's wattage down to at least 2ohms if not 1ohm.
I can think of even better ones, but out of the three amps you gave us to recommend, only the Spectral has close to goods I've mentioned above.
And it is tube preamp and passive preamp friendly as it has 100kohm input impedance.
Cheers George