Recommend a Tube Pre & SS Amp Combo

You could do a Modwright LS100 and KWA150 for about $5K used, including some Sophia 6SN7's and a Mullard for the rectifier which take the performance of the LS100 to a significantly higher level. I've been using this combination for almost a year now after running several different ARC tube preamp and solid state amp combinations. The Modwright stuff is truly excellent. The KWA150 is the proverbial iron fist in a velvet glove-plenty of power, control and finesse. The LS100 will impart a very slight tube character on the sound--more so than the LS36.5 which I previously owned. It is very spacious, quiet and musically involving. I cannot recommend this combination highly enough. And, if you get the upgrade bug you can have your KWA150 upgraded to the "SE" version which I understand is competitive with just about anything out there that isn't silly money. Before you buy used, however, give Dan a call--many times he has show demos that can be had with full warranty for slightly more than what you would pay on the used market.

Hi Juggernaut,

I am glad to be of some help. I have been fortunate to receive help from AGoners in the past and happy to share it.

Regarding your budget, that is a good one. I will say that Class A tends to be quite expensive. But (for me) i have had very good experience with nearly every SS Class A i have heard/owned/auditioned. This includes Forte 4, older Krell amps (which are within your budget for sure), Gryphon and Boulder (which cost much more). You could probably get an Antileon second-hand within your budget...and probably never look back.

OTOH, i believe that Clayton Audio could possibly be within your price new or demo. You'll see plenty of positive comments about them here.

I think Class A would be fine for home theater...plenty of power, headroom, etc....as these are typically SS beasts from the standpoint of having high current, generally very solid power specs.

Good luck and pls post with any questions or updates.

We all tend to recommend what we have used or do use and there is so much gear out there. You have to listen to as much as possible. I have the Pass XA amps but they may not be for you. Pass also makes the X.5 line also. Other amps I have enjoyed are Bel Canto and Pathos Acoustics (hybrid tubes and SS)

I like Lloyd's recommendation for a Class A SS amp in your situation, which I may also do some day with a tube pre. Since you're also using this for HT I'd look for an amp with a low bias switch that would allow it to run more in class A/B when using for HT if pure class A isn't required for that application. The Plinius 103 has this but is probably a little out of your price range even used. I like the Clayton recommendation a lot, but I think they've gone away from offering a low bias switch although some of their prior models may have them. Gryphon's another great recommendation, but doubt they have low bias switch and both Clayton and Gryphon don't seem to come up used very often so could take a while. I think another benefit of a low bias switch is you can leave the amp powered on so it's always ready to go without heating the room or assaulting your electric bill.

I'll defer to the others for the preamp except I'll add ARC that I think includes HT bypass but probably not as warm as the CJ and BAT recommendations. VAC would be worth a look, but not sure if they offer bypass or are in your price range.

One last thought if it hasn't come up, be careful to match the impedance characteristics between whatever tube pre and ss amp you choose. I know the go to recommendation is 10 to 1 input to output, but I think it may also be important to know how that ratio holds at various points along the curve and you may want higher than 10 to 1 for better compatibility (others will know a lot more about this than me but just wanted to mention it). Anyway, fwiw and best of luck.

Juggernaut, at the present, I am more than content with my set up,but I do dream of possibly getting the Modwright kwa 150 somewhere down the line.