Conrad Johnson's nice , But AUDIO RESEARCH WINS as far as I'm concerned .
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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Find a used Dynaco PAS 3X or a pair of PAM's and refit them with some custom boards,(or even hard wire them), upgrade the caps, resistors, and wiring(teflon), and use solid state rectification. For a couple of hundred dollars, (probably less), you'll have a preamp which will rival ANYTHING costing $3,000.00 or more(Audible Illusions,Krell,Levinson,etc...). |
I enjoy tube amps and have a few that I listen to on a regular basis however, [email protected], although comparing apples to oranges, is correct to a certain extent. SS devices are faster, operate with little or no distortion, and have a greater frequency responce but, ONLY THE HIGHER END STUFF! The mass produced, low-fi SS junk put out by Japan can't equal even the older low end Scott, Fisher, Eico, etc... for sound reproduction. Even some of the higher end SS stuff has a hard time competing with some of the older tube stuff that has been modified. The statement that SS equipment sounds cold compared to tube equipment(which everyone says sounds 'warm') is actualy in reference to the 2nd harmonics(distortion) found in tube stuff. I like tube stuff and I've listened to it ALL, the best of tubes and the best of SS, but lets face it, there is no way youre going to make a sailboat of the 1800's as good as a 'Scarab' or 'Cigarette of the 90's. What it finaly boils down too is which type of boating do you prefer. Personaly, I like them both for what they are. |
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