Have you thought about just getting the TC Electronics BQ500.
will give you the 250w at 8ohms and left flat would almost be the same thing as a power amp, allowing you to do whatever you want with a pre-amp.
I know the allure to getting a power amp alone and using your pre-amp to color the sound, but that, for the price ($249) offers the power with very little to zero tone shaping. Still might be the way I go, not sure yet.
I found this great Carvin solid state amp with tube pre-amp, and it would work perfect in every way for me, but I can’t verify weather the DI can be run before the pre-amp or not. It does not have a PRE/POST switch by the XLR output on back, but has a TUBE Bypass switch. This probably does what I want, but I am not 100%, and I want to make sure I can go DI to my DAI before any effects or pre-amp. If I can’t verify that, I will probably end up getting the TC Electronic BQ500