Tube pre-amps $3500 under to add "warmth"

hi rcprince:

at the time, i owned a pair of sonus faber amator electa speakers, a tube amp (i don't remember which) and not sure of what digital source i was using as well.

the jadis components i mentioned struck me as very vintage tube-like, but not the jpl. the telefunken tube which was one of the tubes in the preamp is not my cup of tea either.

i stand by my original statement that this preamp, as compared to an original pv5, is not particulary tube like.

it would be most useful if a bunch of us could evaluate the same stereo system and comparte notes. i think what is occuring is a diefference in perception. how dark is dark, or for a better analogy, how many teaspoons of sugar is needed for a cup of coffeee to be considered sweet ?

Audible Illusions.I love my PrimaLuna integrated,but my friend had the pre and reported that it was a little "fkat" in its' depth/spatial presentation.

MrT--Well, I must admit that a CJ PV5 is a different animal than the Jadis, it certainly has more of that old-fashioned tube sound that it appears you're looking for. Jadis, in its earlier versions before they started using Philips caps, has more of what you're looking for than most preamps, but it still might not fill the bill. My old JP80MC would have given you what you wanted, I think, because I had it modified by Andy Bouwman at Vintage Tube Services with what he then called his "Romantic Era" treatment (as I did with my JA80s as well). I don't think that Andy does this anymore on a large scale, but you might want to call him just to see, as he is a fan of the old-fashioned tube sound and I believe was designing a preamp that would bring back a lot of that tube magic. Worth a try if you're seriously looking for that sound--in fact, he might be able to re-fit an old CJ for you with vintage parts so you wouldn't have to worry about replacing the old parts with newer, more "modern-sounding" (for lack of a better phrase) components.

... if i hear a bunch of stereo systems each having different preamps, i report what i hear.

Yes, but you are hearing and reporting on differences between systems.....NOT preamps.

MrT - Are you coming to conclusions on the differences of preamps based on each of them being heard in different systems? If so, how can you say one preamp is "warmer" than the other. For example, I can take the warmest preamp from the 80s, use it to drive a Mark Levinson (Madrigal) amp from the 90s and then into a pair of Thiel 2 or 3 series speakers. In such a system, there is no way anyone would ever know that there was a tube preamp in the system at all.....you'd swear you also had a Krell or Madrigal preamp from the same era.

you are right in one sense. in most cases, i am not comparing preamp a to preamp b in the same system.

my comments about a bunch of preamps auditioned in diefferent systems is that i find certain preamps lacking warmth--,i, a roll off in the range 1000 to 3000 hz, a slight peak in the range 90-200 hz and a laid back or recessed treble reponse, without regard to relative differences. if a preamp exhibits these characteristics in different systems, the chances are i won't report the sound of a stereo system as edgy or over detailed, especially if there is a tube amp, preamp and tube cd player in the system. i am using intuition nad the facts speak for themselves. i have auditioned some preamps in my own system and have compared several preamps in another system.

however, i would conjecture that i would not find any preamp designed today that is warm, based upon my definition.