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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: SonicSound on January 08, 2007, 06:56:19 PM
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I am curious to know what people opinion/experience has been in comparing the following scenarios:
A) Tube Pre-amp w/ Tube Power amp
B) Tube Pre-amp w/ Solid State Power amp
C) Solid State Pre-amp w/ Solid State Power amp
D) Solid State Pre-amp w/ Tube Power amp
I have always enjoyed Tubes but have been considering replacing my tube pre-amp and going w/ a solid state pre.
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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.
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I've tried all the combinations and I think that the best for most people might be the tube preamp and a warm solid state amp simply because of the longevity of power tubes is limited. It can be expensive to routinely replace tubes in high power amplifiers. Soundwise, I like my current system the best of all the ones I've had - using tubes and SS amps together in a biamped system. But I find that I don't use my big system for backgound music now as much as when I had a big SS amp that didn't burn tube life. Preamp tubes are cheap and last a long time so I never worried about using them up.
What do you expect to improve by swapping to a solid state pre?
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What do you expect to improve by swapping to a solid state pre?
Less noise.
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If you hear audible noise, you might need new tubes or have some other issue.
I know that some designs have noise. I had a CJ PV7 that had a very high noise floor and CJ said that it was a triat of that unit. In contrast the PV14 with mullards is silent with the gain all the way up.
Mike, what do you mean by stability?
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Mike, what do you mean by stability?
I was wondering the same thing. All my tube equipment has been very stable. Tubes can fail but the electronics are rarely affected.
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"eh"
there are some aspects that are worth a trade off here and there Mike.
the tube pre > SS amp setup is pretty sweet. I especially enjoy the tube pre > class D amp sound. tube presentation w/SS "UMPH" and ultimate bass control of whatever fuzzy bottom comes off those tubes.
Good stuff.
I'm w/ya on the integrated amp approach though. Plinius and Krell have always been on my "sooner or later" list.
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Nope, you should definitely turn tubes off but once they warm up they are stable. Plus if you have an auto bias amp they are even more stable & the bias is adjusted as the tube wears.