2. amps-preamps
  3. 164289-156910

Simple, small footprint tube preamp ?

Please be kind. I'm pretty ignorant about computer audio. My source is a laptop, into a Sabre DAC, to the amplifiers. 
I'm wondering if there is a more simple, small footprint tube preamp that could be set on my desk near the laptop? I'd prefer to be able to tube roll, but know NOTHING about this really. I'd prefer to spend less that $500, but $1000 is okay. Normal sized chassis will not work in my application. Kits are okay too. Thank you
flaxxer

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,116 posts
 
@ atmasphere, are you saying I should use you amp as a preamp?
@flaxxer No. I completely misread something and thought you were talking about a desktop amp, not a preamp. Sorry about that.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,116 posts
 
We started 'making' one recently. Actually I built it to be a small amp for my bedroom system. It make 5 watts per channel. I didn't want a cheap SET; I wanted something that was low distortion to full power (SETs aren't), wouldn't be making a lot of heat and would fit on a sheet of paper with room to spare. This started as a one-off but it was almost the same money to get 10 chassis built as it was for one. So I guess we've got a small tube amp now. Mine was done in blue; we're also doing chrome and black. Here's a link:
https://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tubediy/messages/27/273326.html
We've not announced this as a product. My goal was to make something that wasn't made of cheap parts so it would be reliable- I didn't want it to be getting into trouble if I fell asleep listening to it at night. So its built with nice parts throughout, unlike a lot of the inexpensive fare coming from China at this point. Its also low distortion, and I've compared it to SETs of the same power; in a nutshell SETs are physically larger and don't sound as musical.
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