Ahoy Captain,
& welcome to the world of vinyl. As some of the boys stated above, & a set-up I employ myself, a Tube pre-amp mated to a SS amp (an Audion Premier 2 box/MM pre-amp & Classe’ DR9), combines the sonic signature of 6922 tubes with the power, control, reliability, & convenience of SS. So I commend your pursuit of venturing into tube pre-amp territory, "BUT" why swim against the tide??? The Rogue Cronus MAGNUM (have to get the Magnum II) is reputed to have a good phono stage, 100W of power, & that’s just for openers. Now that KT-150 tubes are available you’ll have excellent dynamics, + for not a lot of money you can taylor your sound later on by scraping the JJ Electronic tubes [ (2) 12AX7, (3) 12AU7 ] and rolling them with Philips, RCA, Westinghouse, or even Mullard tubes. If you want to blow the wad go Dutch or German 12AX7/12AU7 tubes.
The thing is with the Rogue Cronus MAGNUM it’s phono stage will allow you to go as far as using High output MC cartridges & no extra interconnects or power cords that you’d have with separates, so with one purchase, in one box, you are done.
If you do decide to go with the Rogue, may I suggest used Coincident Speaker Technology speakers. Easy to drive, very well made & IMHO, dollar for dollar will out perform Harbeth’s offerings .... substantially. http://coincidentspeaker.com. (see Hi-Fi Shark, used).
If you’re on more of a budget may I suggests PSB’s Imagine T3 Towers. Giant killers on a budget.
Best of luck.
& welcome to the world of vinyl. As some of the boys stated above, & a set-up I employ myself, a Tube pre-amp mated to a SS amp (an Audion Premier 2 box/MM pre-amp & Classe’ DR9), combines the sonic signature of 6922 tubes with the power, control, reliability, & convenience of SS. So I commend your pursuit of venturing into tube pre-amp territory, "BUT" why swim against the tide??? The Rogue Cronus MAGNUM (have to get the Magnum II) is reputed to have a good phono stage, 100W of power, & that’s just for openers. Now that KT-150 tubes are available you’ll have excellent dynamics, + for not a lot of money you can taylor your sound later on by scraping the JJ Electronic tubes [ (2) 12AX7, (3) 12AU7 ] and rolling them with Philips, RCA, Westinghouse, or even Mullard tubes. If you want to blow the wad go Dutch or German 12AX7/12AU7 tubes.
The thing is with the Rogue Cronus MAGNUM it’s phono stage will allow you to go as far as using High output MC cartridges & no extra interconnects or power cords that you’d have with separates, so with one purchase, in one box, you are done.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/rogue-audio-cronus-magnum-integrated-amplifier-tas-209-1/
If you do decide to go with the Rogue, may I suggest used Coincident Speaker Technology speakers. Easy to drive, very well made & IMHO, dollar for dollar will out perform Harbeth’s offerings .... substantially. http://coincidentspeaker.com. (see Hi-Fi Shark, used).
If you’re on more of a budget may I suggests PSB’s Imagine T3 Towers. Giant killers on a budget.
Best of luck.