How far are your speakers from the front wall?
Tube preamp options
My system from the preamp on consists of a rouge rp-7, rogue m180 monoblocks, and vandersteen quatro wood speakers. My main source is a brinkmann Bardo through a Rogers PA-2 phono pre. It all sounds great. But there's that itch, you know? I get tremendous soundstage but not that much depth. Clarity is great, mids are nice, bass is excellent. But it doesn't quite have that in the room sound that I'm looking for. The RP7 sounded too solid state and analytical for me out of the box with the stock JJ tubes so I've done extensive rolling. Been through all sorts of NOS tubes and landed on amperex as they seem to have the best balance of warmth and clarity. My thought is, maybe I can find a pre that has those attributes out of the gate without all the rolling. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being able to tailor the sound with trying different tubes but I feel like maybe there's a brand out there who's house sound I like better. I haven't listened to anything more yet but brands that are on the list to check out are Backert labs, maybe a used ARC Ref 6, VTL, VAC. There are a million little boutique brands tho and I'm asking what people have heard in the 10k price range, new or used, that might be a good fit for me and why.
Thanks!
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- 96 posts total
and in particular from the acoustic lens which is equidistant from midrange and tweeter… there is a reason the Quattro is a minimum front baffle and deep cabinet… again, great topics for the Vandy forum where there are many Quattro owners… Glad to help Russ. The R core and caps in the Ref5 se and up don’t come cheap… At the level you are playing at or aspire to…i would suggest isolation on phono and preamps, i run HRS under my ARC and it makes a big difference… Also IF you go ARC get a NOS TungSol 6550 in the power supply. What cartridge and phono and TT isolation are you using ? A preamp isnt going to retrieve micro detail and spatial information that is lost or obscured by noise. I would definitely take the Brinkmann rep up on the offer. Every listening experience with gear at this level is a discernment building experience ;-)
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As usual, @tomic601 , gives sound advice, and +1 on joining the Vandy forum. My 2 cents- 1.Get the new Vandy Preamp and be done with it.(I think it is all SS, but don't quote me). 2. Find an Ayre KXR (preferrably Twenty, but the non-Twenty is might good).Though I don't know how it interacts with the Rogue, as I have the matching MXR's. I own both the KXR (non -Twenty) and the Atmasphere MP-1 (essentially stock), and, to be honest, they are pretty darned close in sound reproduction. So, if you are intent on tubes, that might be another option. But, to my ears, the Arye seems a bit 'tighter' than the Atma. YMMV Bob |
Is Vandersteen going the tube route or is the design a transistor circuit? This seems an ambitious (Surpass the ARC Reference 6SE performance) and serious effort. I wish them well. Charles |
i think what might be more illustrative is to look at the Vandersteen amplifiers for potential clues… The M7 is all out hybrid tube and SS outputs with a SE quasi ciirclotron typology with liquid cooling for perfect bias, no emiter resistors….built in HRS style isolation in a novel hanging truss…. the list is longer…. The ( much ) more affordable M5’s are all SS but have similar architecture. I believe the first preamp will be intended to mate w M5 level gear. I expect Richard will build a mate for the M7…..eventually…. i am in line and will evaluate it in 2 systems using Vandersteen amps and speakers. Finally for US audio shows, Vandy often pairs w ARC and many Vandy dealers carry both…. customer choice will be enhanced in most cases…how wonderful best to all Jim |
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