Blackraven, it depends on what you mean by "tubey". It has been my experience that any solid state in the chain diminishes the presence that comes with tubes. With that being said I have not heard any of VA's products. What I mean by "presence" is that since of depth, and the sense that lifts the performance off the paper feel.

Geoffcin, tubes bring a different type of fidelity. They may not have the control of the best solid state amps but solid state amps rarely come close to the macro and micro dynamics of tubes. I haven't heard a tube amp yet to rival the transient response of Krell, on the other hand I've yet to hear a solid state amp give the natural detail instruments should have, I call it tonal richness or shadings. This is wildly general as well since both tube and solid state vary a great deal in their ability to perform in their respective technologies.

My main system is all tube except my source. In the near future I do have a solid state power amp coming I will put into the system to see how it does. I'm sure it won't end up replacing my CJ monoblocks but it will be an interesting experiment.