newbie question on TUBE gears.


so far I've been using only SS gears, and thinking about a tube gear for the next upgrade..

I have a few question...

1. Is it ok to mix and match SS preamp and tube poweramp?
(thinking about Audio Research LS-12 which is SS preamp and maybe a tube poweramp for the next round of upgrades)

2. How often do you need to replace the tubes?

3. How easy/hard to get extra tubes and the cost?
(do you usually get it from a dealer? or directly order from manufacturer? avaible to order online?)

4. How easy/hard to replace the tubes? Is it easy enough to DIY or do you need to take it to dealers?

Any other questions I'm missing?

Thanks.
eandylee

Showing 3 responses by steuspeed

Looks like your system is more of a dedicated theater to me. I would suggest upgrading your processor to a 568. You could also gain some improvment with some accoustic panels behind your front 3 speakers. Integrating tubes into your system is not going to be easy. You could try a tube Pre/Proccessor from Cary Audio. Another option would be to buy a 2-channel tube amp and see how you like it against your Bryston amps.
One more idea for just 2-channel would be to buy a tube CD or tube dac. This might be the best idea as you can get a little tube magic for CD and keep what you have for home theater.
The 568 has a better pre-amp section in it over the 561. The 565 is also better but you don't get the PC set-up.

A pre-amp with HT pass through is not a bad idea. I think Meridian processors turn everything into digital and back to analog if you use the analog outputs. This may defeat some benefits of using a tube CD or dac on the input side.