Recommend a Tube Pre & SS Amp Combo


Hello,

Having been mulling and searching this over quite a bit and have come to the following conclusion:

My next upgrade will be a tube pre amp and a ss amplifier. I love the tube sound but also like lots of power as I find my current SLI 80 gets a bit compressed as the volume gets loud. I am also trying to make it work with a HT system, which is another reason for the ss amp piece of the puzzle.

Current speakers are Dali 400mkii.

Looking for recommendations on the combo with the following "needs":

Warmer sound than lean
Lots of power
HT bypass on the pre (req.)
Prefer to stay with a single brand for both, but am open to suggestions
Prefer made in north America
Improvement over the SLI 80, if you have experience here

Thanks in advance!
juggernaut850

Showing 1 response by soix

I like Lloyd's recommendation for a Class A SS amp in your situation, which I may also do some day with a tube pre. Since you're also using this for HT I'd look for an amp with a low bias switch that would allow it to run more in class A/B when using for HT if pure class A isn't required for that application. The Plinius 103 has this but is probably a little out of your price range even used. I like the Clayton recommendation a lot, but I think they've gone away from offering a low bias switch although some of their prior models may have them. Gryphon's another great recommendation, but doubt they have low bias switch and both Clayton and Gryphon don't seem to come up used very often so could take a while. I think another benefit of a low bias switch is you can leave the amp powered on so it's always ready to go without heating the room or assaulting your electric bill.

I'll defer to the others for the preamp except I'll add ARC that I think includes HT bypass but probably not as warm as the CJ and BAT recommendations. VAC would be worth a look, but not sure if they offer bypass or are in your price range.

One last thought if it hasn't come up, be careful to match the impedance characteristics between whatever tube pre and ss amp you choose. I know the go to recommendation is 10 to 1 input to output, but I think it may also be important to know how that ratio holds at various points along the curve and you may want higher than 10 to 1 for better compatibility (others will know a lot more about this than me but just wanted to mention it). Anyway, fwiw and best of luck.