Anybody enjoying Tube Amps for Music & Movies?

I am using my Pioneer VSX-56TXi as my pre now and have been experimenting with various tube amps to compliment my old McIntosh 2100. The Mc is an old beast, a very "tubey" sounding amp for a solid state warhorse. One of the tube amps I have been experimenting with is a retubed Peavey series 50/50 amp. This is probably a criminal act in the world of Hi-Fi, using a retubed guitar amp to drive 2 sets of old Altec speakers (Voice of the Theater and Valencias wired in parallel to drop them down to 4 ohms) but I am here to tell you that this amp produces a warm, ball crunching sound with airy extended high end that I haven't been able to achieve with a solid state amp (not even my old 2100!) I am now sold on tube amps after listening to this dirty beast for awhile and can't wait to eventually try a real "audiophile grade" tube amp. Right now the amps by Audio Innovations have caught my eye as I'm not Rockefeller. Anybody else using their reciever as a pre to drive tube amps with satisfying results? To me it seems like the perfect marriage of old world sound and new world technology.