2. amps-preamps
  3. 125897-2444

Too many tubes?

I have what may be a less than ideal situation for now, a tubed preamp and a tubed phono pre feeding into the first pre. So I’m wondering how to tube each one so the different sources don’t have totally different sound. Ideally I would like the main preamp to be responsible for setting the sound for the entire system as much as possible.

So how do different tubes "sounds" interact? Would a lush sounding tube in each preamp result in "double lush"? Would a leaner sounding tube in the phono and a more lush tube in the system pre even out the sound somewhat from the two different sources? Or would two leans equal "double lean" or maybe something closer to the lush tube. I guess the best way to put it, is are the different tube types when mixed in different ways additive or subtractive or somewhere in between? Hope that makes sense.

Thanks.
jaybe

Showing 1 response by auxinput

auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Agreed.  Just start with one piece, maybe the main preamp.  Start trying out different tubes to get an idea.  Then move on to the phono preamp.  Since you are just starting out here, you will probably go through a number of different tubes before you end up where you like.

One thing, yes, if you put two really lush tubes one after the other, the sound may become too lush/slow for your preferences (then again, you might like this).  It really is a synergy thing between your source/preamp/amplifer and also interconnect cables (even power cables).  Each element will influence the sound in some way.

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