I am a fan of tubes. The least I will do in my own system is a tube pre with a solid state amp. I am a fan of tube amps as as well, Nick & I were discussing this earlier today. The sound of tubes is sweet but the real charm is the "intensity" of music. There is so much more energy from a tube amp, it's hard to explain but there seems to be more dynamics & impact from a really good tube amp IMO.