audioquest4life:
Nice to hear from an audiophile from Germany. You are indeed lucky to have Einstein reps come to your home. As you already know, The Tube is a wonderful looking preamp. It's build quality seems top notce as well. I thought it was very clever that the tubes are all mounted on a spring loaded platform which helps to absorb vibration.
I cannot comment on the soundstaging and imaging as I am having some issues with this because of my room setup. I can comment on the sound however. And thus far, with The Tube, my system never sounded better. I listen to a lot of female vocals and jazz. To me, texture, realism and weight in the midrange is critical. With The Tube, voices sounded incredibly life like, as if I was in the same room with the singer. Instruments also had a sense of realism. I noticed things that I never heard before with my current preamp (Clase CP-700). Its not that The Tube reveled more detail, it just emphasized things that my current pre did not.
One of favorite cds to test midrange is Eva Cassidy's "American Tune". I was amazed at how rich and vibrant her voice sounded. There was a texture that allowed me to actually visualize and feel her vocal chords vibrating as she sang (I know that sounds weird but that is the best way i can describe it).
For bass and highs, I used Bliss' "Quiet Letters" cd. The opening track does a great job of testing the frequency extremes. The Tube handled this with ease. It reached as low as my speakers would go while also making highs sound natural, crisp, and immediate.
As a further test of the highs, I used Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd's "Jazz Samba" cd. I can honestly say, that i neve heard more realistic highs than with The Tube.
Overall, I think The Tube's strength is in its ability to reproduce music in a manner that is lifelike and natural. I did not get a sense of rolloff at either frequency extreme, nor did I hear too much midrange bloom.
Of course, The Tube is not without its issues. Even though the sound is great, it does lack any real features. There is no volume display or volume (gain) adjustment. The standard remote is a cheap looking plastic unit. Make sure you take a look at the optional remote. It really is a work of art but at $700 its way too much. I would prefer to have an output trigger. These may not mean a lot to people but to me, they are important in terms of day to day use.
I hope this helps. Good luck with your audition. I would be curious to know if you have the same volume issues that I did with my maps.
kind regards,
