Getting into tubes?

hi eldragon, ewe said yure gonna keep the linn; from this thread, i assume it's an amp. i don't have experience w/linn amps, but, until recently, i had a linn kairn preamp for several years. i appreciated all it did in the way of accuracy, neutrality, & detail (w/electrocompaniet amps), but the soundstage depth seemed to me a bit shallow. it *did* have excellent width & height, tho. so, i experimented w/tube preamps. i had a magnum-updated rogue 99, a cary slp98, & i finally settled on a melos music director. except for poor bass response w/the rogue, which i attribute to an impedence mismatch w/my system, *all* the preamps maintained the accuracy, neutrality & detail of the linn, but the sound was more like music, & the soundstage depth got much better. perhaps a tube preamp would work for you...

Try the Quicksilver Mini-Mites monoblocks. $998 a pair and I believe it's wired point-to-point. Quicksilvers are known for their excellent mid-range. Apparently Mike Sanders the owner is really helpful.

I too am interested in getting into tube amp and pre-amp. I am looknig at purchasing my equipment from Audio Electronic Supply, a subsidary of Cary Audio. I am looking for some opinions about their product line. Is there anyone who has bought any of there procduct and what kind of service did you recieve for your product purchase. I know that there are a lot of people here with a lot more knowledege about tube amps, so I would really appreciate your input.

audionewbie, i'd suggest calling dennis had of cary - he's *wery* friendly, & will give ewe the straight poop. i can say that the cary slp98 preamp is an excellent unit, especially at its price-point. i ended up preferring the melos, but its retail price is ~$2k more, & melos isn't known for the supreme reliability that cary is... doug

I checked out the AES SE-811. I found it to be a great amp. Very open and clean. If you can handle the fact it is only 12(I believe) watts, you would be fine. More people than you would expect can do very well on that amount of power. I have seen they now have the same amp with an 845 output tube. The name is probably SE-845. I think it may be 27 or 32 watts. I would love to get the opportunity of listening to it. Then there is also the Cary SE572(20 watts). Benefits of the AES amps are the input level controls, which you can use for volume. This would bypass the need for a preamp if you are only using one source, or don't mind switching cables back and forth. I have yet to hear a bad tube amp from Cary.