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Tubes vs Tubeless

Hi,

Very, very (did I say "very") new to this adventure. I had a nice lower end, high end system 30 years ago and life got in the way and I had to part with that system. I now have a basic set up with a Belles Aria integrated amp with Vandersteen 2ce Signature speakers and a Linn DAC with a basic turntable.

I'm thinking of an upgrade and going full in on a dac system and leaving the vinyl to the side. I love albums but my collection is not huge, I'm getting older and I enjoy the simplicity of streaming music at the touch of a fingertip.

I have never owned a system with tubes and read in one of the forums about the Aric Audio systems and it really piqued my interest.

So, the question is, will there be a considerable difference in sound quality with a tube system of the Aric quality paired with a DAC or is the tube system a better advantage with vinyl?

Thank you

bahston
yyzsantabarbara
5,550 posts
 

I am not a big tube fan. I find I lose resolution, but the holographic sound of tubes is very nice.

I heard the Allnic line of DAC and preamps and I was floored because it has both great resolution and a holographic sound with the tubes. After some research I concluded that it was not the tubes on the Allnic that was making it great, it was the OTL/OCL output stage of the Allnic DACs and preamps.

Now I cannot afford Allnic gear at this time and I lucked into discovering the $500 Schiit Valhalla 3 OTL/OCL headphone amp / preamp. I am only listening to it as a preamp. It is not practical for most setup, single input, no remote.

If you are someone that is a bit disappointed in tubes because of the not-so-great resolution. Listen to an OTL/OCL design. I only know of Allnic and Schiit that have this.

 

bojack
703 posts
 

For the Quicksilver fans following this thread, Mike Sanders confirmed with me recently that the Mono 120s use 20db of feedback, while the newer KT Monos utilize 16.5db of feedback. I assume that he shoots for low impedance output specs, thus the use of feedback. I own both of these models, and they are both superb.

bahston OP
30 posts
 

Thank you for your insights.

I will post my choice/chooses of units when I’ve completed this leg of the journey and will let you know my thoughts.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
5,946 posts
 

@bahston 

I started with tubes and went back and forth with SS until just a few years ago when I bought PS Audio.  Their BHK line is all Hybrid, the Signature Preamp and BHK amplifiers have a tube input section and a MOSFET transistor output section (mosfets put out a warmer sound). I’m getting the warmer sound I was looking for without all the heat of lots of output tubes. They just discontinued the BHK preamp and the BHK250 and300 amplifiers so you can get them at half price or less.

If you have the money, Audio Research makes some incredible stuff (mostly tube) and they are built very well!  The sound is probably everything you want, but there is a lot of heat from the power tubes and depending on your room size and where you live can heat up small pretty quick.  
 

Another idea would be to get a tube preamp and a SS or Hybrid amplifier. Depending on how loud you play your music might be the best solution.

 

All the best.

bahston OP
30 posts
 

I play the majority of my music between 70-76db with bumps up to 80-81 when I want to get crazy, ha!

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