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Seriously considering tube preamp…opinions?

Tube virgin, here. I am building a system and I'm trying to contain the preamp/amp cost to $3k or so. (I could go up a little.) 

I'm inclined not to dive into tubes all the way through, but get a solid state on the output end. (Open to suggestions; inclined toward PS Audio, Parasound.) I'm reading around about tube preamps and have talked with my local dealer, who sells Black Ice/Jolida and Prima Luna (PL). He used to carry Rogue but said they kept coming back for repairs. That's why he carries PL.

I'm asking these questions after having established (via reviews, comments) that Schiit gear is quite the value. Lately, I've been reading about Decware and other small tube makers. I'm very curious about buying direct, if possible, and a company that stands behind their products is crucial.

So, your opinions about tube integrated or *especially* tube preamps —

1. Who do you like? Consider I want to do pre/amp for a total of $3k if possible.

2. Do you think PL is worth all that money just for a preamp? I get the feeling they're high quality but a bit over-hyped. (No disrespect to the highly passionate Kevin Deal, but he's all over my search results.) And what would you think about $2k/$1k preamp-to-amp spending ratio?

3. Any sense of what happened to Jolida since the name change to "Black Ice"? I see there's a sordid story there but did the re-branding clear up the mess? Any experiences with the Black Ice company?

4. I know there are many Schiit fans out there; so my question would be -- did anyone consider Schiit for tube preamp and go another way? Or move beyond Schiit for any particular reason? It's hard not to just capitulate and do a Freya+ or Saga+ but why wouldn't one just go with Schiit?




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Showing 1 response by english210

english210
174 posts
 
I’m continuing to follow this thread with great interest, being on a similar journey. Not starting from scratch, but trying to get the most out of what I’ve got, and feeling a good pre, likely a good tube pre, will be my next step. Partly curiosity, partly because the aspect of tubes that is most talked about is the emotional involvement they tend to facilitate. My room is live, so anything in the family of harsh/bright/analytical/etc is to be avoided, I’m bordering on that now. 

The option to audition all the choices listed here by various members is obviously not realistic, and it seems more and more clear that once specific criteria are met (ht bypass needed or not, balanced/SE preference, phone or not, etc), the vast majority of the options would provide great results. Each manufacturer has their share of proponents, with few serious detractors. Someone that chose a DS, for example, probably wouldn’t have been disappointed with a like-priced Supratek/Atma-sphere/Rogue (random brands, don’t attach meaning) in terms of sound quality. 
Fair to say?
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