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 mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,819 posts
 
If the main source is the phono,  I'd start by making sure the primary tube there is of the highest quality and dead quiet.    

Then I would test all the rest to see how good those are and replace the weaker ones if needed.

For a system with many tubes I'd also want to own a good quality tube tester.    

Get rid of weak links first.  Then go from there if/when needed.  Start with phono, then pre-amp then power amp tubes once all are confirmed in good working order.     Test all tubes periodically over time as needed if the sound quality is suspect.


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