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I've decided to try Tubes

I have been going back and forth a while. I was thinking of the Yamaha AS2100 to replace my B&K amp (ZU audio Omen Def speakers). For some reason I now have a tube bug. I first thought about DECWARE and now thinking of Primaluna after reading great reviews. If tubes are not for me, both should be easy to resell. I have an opportunity on a Primaluna Prolouge 5 stereo power amp. It has autobias (which is a must for me) and is easy to roll tubes. It comes with KT88's which seem to have better lower end than el34's (from what I read). 35 watts per ch is more than enough to drive my Omen Defs loud if needed (101 db). 

Thought's on the PrimaLuna and ZU combo (Peachtree NOVA-PRE)? I listen to Classic Jazz, Classical and Classic - Prog Rock mostly. 


aberyclark
lancelock
1,085 posts
 
I'm in a perpetual state of cookie popping
mac48025's avatar
mac48025
672 posts
 
Sweet.....I have popping cookies to look forward to after getting the Linear Tube Audio pre and amp? Might be the best tweak yet!
veroman's avatar
veroman
298 posts
 
musical paradise was mentioned, i would second that. Mine works great, auto bias and rolling is easy. plus the money you save can go to high end tubes. kt 88, 6l6, el 334 etc. you donnt need all that power with 101 db rating right
vpi's avatar
vpi
223 posts
 
OP,
I would add the Rogue Audio ST-100 to your list. It’s about 3k new but used should be close to your budget. I’ve owned two different Jadis amps and while the Rogue is not quite in that league it has nothing to be ashamed of.

decooney
1,906 posts
 
aberyclark,
Like you, I ran various B&K mosfet based amp systems for 25+ years and understand the interest in tubes if you like that warm B&K sound. The best was the ultra high current dual mono amps and last edition preamps before it all went to AV, ugh.  FYI:  ATI amplifiers bought the defunct B&K company as you may be aware. I recently learned that ATI is going to bring back the B&K brand, and I suspect it will be very different and updated with ATI designer influence behind it.  Years ago I eventually moved from B&K to Cary tube pre-amps/amps along with friends wanting to explore tubes. It's been a lot of fun messing with various tube amps, pre-amplifiers, mods/upgrades. Then one day I tried some of the more recent solid state gear and started playing with mixing tube pre-amp front ends with solid state back end amplifiers. It's another combination I waited way too long to try and now that I have, I will always have this combination and continue to search for a great back-end tube amp that can match it in sound quality, dynamics, and full deep bass. I thought I would never leave tube amps, and probably would not have happened until I heard a newer and much different solid state amplifier paired with with a tube preamplifier with really good NOS tubes. It's going to take a hell of a pair of tube monblocks to replace this tube pre and SS amp combo. The only recommendation I can make is to try (borrow/buy/return) different amps with your speakers until you find a match if you loved the B&K stuff. Took me several tube amps and ss amps to find a match that worked well.  Good Luck.   
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