Suggestions for a tube pre and power amp
Dear Audio Friends,
I am writing to seek your experienced suggestions regarding an upgrade to my current stereo setup. My current system consists of Revel F328Be speakers powered by a Luxman 590Mk2 Class A integrated amp. My frontend includes a Sonic Transporter (Roon core) powered by a Farad LPS, a Holo Red streamer, and a Holo May KTE DAC.
I am considering transitioning to a tube preamplifier and a solid-state power amplifier combination. While my speakers have a 91dB sensitivity, the impedance dips to 3 ohms between 100Hz and 200Hz.
My current shortlists are as follows:
- Power Amps: Coda S5.5 Class A or Coda No. 8 V1.
- Tube Preamps: Backert Labs Rhumba, Spatial Audio Raven, or Motherlode XL.
I am looking for a 3D holographic, warm sound with a high level of clarity and detail. While I am aware of the general rules regarding impedance matching, I would value your insights on how these specific components might pair together. I am also very open to any other combinations you might recommend.
Thank you for your help.
Rlal
@lals Yes, it is a good balance of the traditional sonic characteristics of tube and solid state giving the best of both. It has good bass dynamics like solid state, an open three-dimensional soundstage, very good low-level detail resolution but yet easy to listen to and that wonderful midrange that tubes provide The LTA does not offer balanced outputs, if it did, I would prefer them even with the somewhat low input impedance of the Coda at 10K, would be fine given the LTA is 50 Ohms. |
@swaudiofan I didn’t mean that they are totally shifting to Class D. I think Atmasphere and Rogue audio have some Class D amps. They are very good with SNR ratio and efficiency wise. I haven’t compared Class D to Class A or tube amps but I do hear that some Class D sounds dry and not musical. For me until you do an A to B listening it is difficult to compare. |
@agbrace Thank you very much for explaining the sound characteristics of LTA preamp. Will keep an eye on LTA preamps. You are correct with Coda input impedance of 10K ohms for balanced will work well with 50ohm impedance of LTA. One reason I avoided LTA in my initial list is lack of balanced connections. I am really not sure is that is a wise decision or not. |
@lals I don’t feel that its single-ended only output is a limiting factor, it is a very nice component and reasonably priced given its performance. I have been through a ton of gear and currently have 3 other preamps at the moment, all solid state, and it can easily hang with them. Levinson 523, Classe Delta, and an EMM Labs PRE2. |
OP - while generally I agree with the quality recommendations of Audio Research preamps, I have heard fabulous things about Backert preamps. making two changes at once can be tough though as both amp and pre- will have different break in cycles if both are new. So that throws a huge number of variables into the mix. I'm not familiar with your Luxman, but if it has pre-amp outputs, you might want to start with the power amp and get that variable set before moving on to the pre. Just my 2 cents worth |
