Of all the things you mentioned a tube preamp with a separate DAC will be by far the best sound quality. Newer components will work fine, your amp does not care where the line voltage comes from. You however may care how it sounds. In that case the tube preamp is the way to go.
Preamp advice- getting up to speed
Hello,
Looking to match a preamp/receiver to my vintage components.
Mainly listening to 60’s on up rock, progressive rock, pop, occasional classical pieces, classic jazz, bluegrass.
Luxman M-117 amp
ADS 1290 speakers
Oppo CD/DVD player
B&O Beogram turntable
The turntable will likely not be part of the setup. It will remain in another room with a Pioneer SX850 receiver, ADS 520’s, pinball machines and a lava lamp. So mostly streaming and CD’s once in a while. The M-117 is replacing a Denon PMA 900v.
I’ve been going down the rabbit hole on this one. Originally thinking a vintage piece. Yamaha C or CX series, Adcom, NAD, but lately thinking of a newer one.
It would have the benefit of 21st century features- streamer, DAC, Tuner, remote control, bluetooth, etc.
Perhaps a Marantz NR 2100 or something similar? Would a tube preamp with a separate DAC be a possibility?
I am not up to speed on newer components and how they do or don’t work with older pieces.
Don’t want to spend a fortune, but realize I have to invest a bit.
Any advice is much appreciated.Thanks
Looking to match a preamp/receiver to my vintage components.
Mainly listening to 60’s on up rock, progressive rock, pop, occasional classical pieces, classic jazz, bluegrass.
Luxman M-117 amp
ADS 1290 speakers
Oppo CD/DVD player
B&O Beogram turntable
The turntable will likely not be part of the setup. It will remain in another room with a Pioneer SX850 receiver, ADS 520’s, pinball machines and a lava lamp. So mostly streaming and CD’s once in a while. The M-117 is replacing a Denon PMA 900v.
I’ve been going down the rabbit hole on this one. Originally thinking a vintage piece. Yamaha C or CX series, Adcom, NAD, but lately thinking of a newer one.
It would have the benefit of 21st century features- streamer, DAC, Tuner, remote control, bluetooth, etc.
Perhaps a Marantz NR 2100 or something similar? Would a tube preamp with a separate DAC be a possibility?
I am not up to speed on newer components and how they do or don’t work with older pieces.
Don’t want to spend a fortune, but realize I have to invest a bit.
Any advice is much appreciated.Thanks
12 responses Add your response
I’m using a Denon 900v integrated now but want to replace it with my Luxman M-117 amp. So wlll need a preamp. Tubes intrigue me. I’ve read up a bit on them, but have zero experience with them. I’ve been out of the audio loop for so long, I’m trying to catch up. Looking for the creature comforts of new gear, but I am not in the thousands of dollar range. At least not yet. For SS, Cambridge Azur 851N looks like it may work?? Not using phono in this room. |
ghdprentice- thanks for that advice! |
tomic601 I will look at those. I had been looking at the Black Ice line. I believe they were Jolida? My biggest problem is finding ones I can demo. The education and search continues ! |
One important element about pre-amplifiers that I recently learned about in an Audiogon forum discussion was that you need to be careful to look at the input sensitivity of the amplifier that you are driving with the pre-amplifier. So, if your amplifier has an input sensitivity of 0.5V, then you should make sure your pre-amplifier supplies an output voltage of at least 0.5V. If your amplifier's input sensitivity is 3V, then you'll need a pre-amplifier with an output voltage of at least 3V. I think it may even be preferable to have a much higher output signal in the pre-amplifier that the input sensitivity of your amplifier, but I don't know what the ideal is. That's just one initial screening tool. Then, as far as brands go, I suppose you just need to try some out. . . |