Fotopres is obviously an avid tube hater with little actual experience with any quality tube products. His statements regarding tube preamps are also quite skewed. I currently own a Vacuum Tube Logic Ultimate preamp (rather arrogant name, but still one of the best I've heard). My current pre runs DEAD silent (as do some other tube preamps...as do SOME SS preamps...but some of EACH design do not). My first preamp was a NYAL Minuet, which was a hybrid and could be seen as an "equalizer" due to its euphonic coloration. It could also be considered "unreliable" in that it burned itself out (though it wasn't a tube that failed!) after it reached 15 years of age. My next pre was an ARC LS3...solid state, fairly quiet, quite musical, and quite reliable. It worked well in my system, but when I changed speakers, the preamp no longer matched well. Out went the ARC, in went the VTL. The VTL was inexpensive on the used market (though originally $3k in the late '80s) and has proven TOTALLY reliable. It has a fantastic phono stage that will shame that of any solid state unit near the price I paid (or 4 times what I paid). The line stage is quite neutral, not "romantic" or "tubey" and has a much more extended top end than the ARC unit, as well as a stronger, better defined bass. From what I have seen, the VTL measures at least as good as many solid state units in most areas, has less "noise and hum" than many I have heard, and is utterly reliable.
Please recommend Tube pre-amp(s)
I've listened to, and liked the Conrad Johnson PV 12 (a bit under $2,000) and really liked the Conrad Johnson Premier 14 ( $4,300?). However the Premier 14 is a lot of money, and we wouldn't even have listened to it except it has a remote control which my wife insists on, and then she fell in love with the higher quality sound of the Premier 14. I've listened to solid state gear from Rowland, Ayre, Classe and Krell none of which I liked although I thought the Rowland was incredibly precise, detailed [and lifeless.] The only other tube gear I listened to was the BAT preamp/amp combination which didn't do it either - I thought the sound was kind of dark and a bit dry emotionally. We felt that the CJ sound was very open, inviting and involving - we felt like part of the emotional experience of the music. I'm quite new at this and it seems like the preamp has a large effect on the overall character of the sound of the system, at least more so than the power amp. So far I have a Cal Audio CL 10 5 disk CD player and a Conrad Johnson DA-2b D to A converter plugged into my soon to be replaced old receiver and speakers. I have no plans for vinyl, so I'm looking for recommendations for line stages. What preamps can you recommend in the $2k to $4k price range with remote controls? The two dealers who had the CJ line said CJ has a distinctive sound - do you agree? If so, how would you characterize the sound from other amplification companies' equipment - like VAC, etc. etc.
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- 41 posts total
- 41 posts total