Maybe tube preamp


My current setup is Tidal; ifi  nano DSD; Parasound HCA 2200 (recent purchase) ; Magnepan 1.7i  

This arrangement sounds pretty good at low volume with most material.  However I think it would benefit from a preamp.  The ifi's output maxes out at 1.3 volts.  I was thinking the warmth of a tube preamp would be a good match for this setup.  Years ago I had a New York Audio Labs setup. I liked it but it save for the noise floor. My HCA 2200 is blissfully silent. 

My budget is about $1,000

Advice?

128x128markainsworth

Showing 3 responses by axememan

+2 on the Freya but,when I was looking I got a fair quote and quick response from Mapletree Audio.see below.HT in the model code was for the 'Home Theater Bypss'

""Thank you for your inquiry. The Line 2CHT is $820 USD and shipping to you would be $40.00. This includes the PS 2C power supply, tubes, line cord, and power interconnect cable. The Line 2CHT will have 3 line inputs, with Input 3 being your HT channels. The selector switch position next to Input 3 is labelled HT and it bypasses the Input 3 signal directly to the output jacks, of which there are two pair. You can power off the PS 2C when in HT mode. There is not a "REC" output on the HT model.

 Regards,

 Lloyd""

 

 

 

Lloyd Peppard

Mapletree Audio Design

I do not know,but,Mike Moffet at Schiit says" I need to clarify that I am not a fan of 12A(any)7 tubes. The 12AU has bad curves, and although I have never used it the 12AT also suffers from curves far worse than the 6SN7/5692. The main application for 12AT7 tubes is audio circuits in shortwave transmitters and receivers where audio non-linearity and punch help intelligibility over weak, noisy, signals. For line level (not phono) tubes, the 6SN7 family just rules. 6DJ8 and 5670 are quieter, but this is useful for phono apps."
The Freya is also in the Harmony Universal remote Database so that is very Handy for those that use them[me].