Greets all,

Kind of a tubular question here. I have my own thoughts on this but want to hear what others think.

Would a hi-fi tube preamp and set of tube power amps be good for driving studio monitors and delivering a flat accurate sound?

My understanding is that in general tube amps do not make for great monitoring since they can color the sound (albeit a nice color) .

However... Much *hi-end* tube gear is known for its ability to give transparent, even un-colored, audio.

I'm in the position to buy a rather unique tube monster...

It comes with a tube preamp (with something like 8 tubes), all top quality. 2 or 3 power transformers. Closest comparison would be the Manely Neo-Classic SE/PP

http://www.manleylabs.com/containerpages/seppneo.html

and 2 mono-block tube power-amps, similar to the Manely MAHI

http://www.manleylabs.com/containerpages/MAHI.html

only this one has vintage KT66 tubes! (new vintage, bought new in 1950/60s but not used until recently in this amp). And it has 3 transformers per mono-block. Each mono-block weighs about 40 kilos!

Its basically a super hi-fi audio system for audiophiles. Truly a tube monster (and expensive). Sure it sounds wicked, but...

Would this thing give useful results for studio monitoring or even mastering?

Ignore speaker type for now, just talking power amps here. Also assume its built using only the best components and craftsmanship at every stage.

Doesn't solid state color sound too, just in a solid state way? Of course it does!~

But I think its safe to assume that solid state is what 99% of people will be using to drive their speaker system at home. Which is why I'm asking...

Can a super high end tube preamp/power amp system give transparent sound with, say, Yamaha NS-10's? Or any speaker?

More accurate and flat than a high end solid state pre/power amp system?