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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 oddiofyl

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oddiofyl
3,471 posts
 
If you can do without remote a c-j Classic 2SE is in your price range, this is a seriously good value used....Quicksilver Audio makes 2 preamps in your price range, one is remote the other is not. Quicksilver gear is all point to point wiring. To me this is more important with a tube amp, I have had amps where the circuit trace was damaged when a cathode resistor failed following a tube failure.  P2P is often easier to repair.    Prima Luna is nice sounding gear, dont get me wrong.  I auditioned my speakers on several amps one being a PL el34 but two things turned me off . Made in China and distributed by Kevin Deal.   I couldnt even get that guy to return my call to buy something, and im talking several emails and three conversations with his staff ,what about after sale support?   No thanks.

I think if you are going to buy new you should check out Quicksilver. Its made in usa, point to point wiring, excellent build quality. I have a pair of QS amps and they are awesome, sound great, super reliable.
Three year warranty... I just bought the new QS headphone amp, sight unseen because I know it will be worth every penny.
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