About five years ago I started just the way Dave did, with a tube preamp first. Since then, I feel it's had a greatly positive affect on any solid state amp I used with it. I recently added a tube amp and am enjoying that difference as well. As Elevick suggests, tube rolling a preamp is much cheaper. Also consider that many tube amps get extremely hot!
Tube pre- or amp: does it matter?
Hi,
I'm considering introducing a tube component into my system (Cary 306/200, Placette pre, Macintosh 300, Gallo 3.1) to bring out a little more depth, staging and musicality. I'm willing to start from scratch with both the pre and amp. If I were to balance tube and ss, is there a rule of thumb about whether it's better to have a tube for pre or a tube for amp? All things being equal (which they seldom are) would one make a bigger difference in sound than the other? In my electronic ignorance, I'm wondering if there might be something about whether the tube is closer to your source or closer to your speakers. (Of course, I may end up with tube for both.)
Thanks for any help,
Bob
I'm considering introducing a tube component into my system (Cary 306/200, Placette pre, Macintosh 300, Gallo 3.1) to bring out a little more depth, staging and musicality. I'm willing to start from scratch with both the pre and amp. If I were to balance tube and ss, is there a rule of thumb about whether it's better to have a tube for pre or a tube for amp? All things being equal (which they seldom are) would one make a bigger difference in sound than the other? In my electronic ignorance, I'm wondering if there might be something about whether the tube is closer to your source or closer to your speakers. (Of course, I may end up with tube for both.)
Thanks for any help,
Bob