Might as well try both.
I ended up with a total tube system and a tube preamp feeding my Lixman M10X.
My last choice would be SS for preamp feeding a tube amp.
https://aricaudio.com/tube-gear/
Tube Amp or Tube Pre Amp
For those of you who have experience with tubes, what would be your preference.
Tube Amp with tube preamp, Tube Amp with solid state preamp, or Solid state Amp with tube preamp
My system currently is Mcintosh MC352 Amp Solid State, Mcintosh C49 Pre Amp SS, Klipsch Cornwall IV speakers.
I want to try tubes so with my current set up should I go tube amp or tube preamp?
Thanks
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Tube Pre, your Cornwalls will love it. You should be able to find something here https://www.stereophile.com/category/tube-preamp-reviews |
I have all tube at this point so am openly biased. The right *quality* of all tube amp system will take you to a sweet place. But if I was to pick a tube pre to combine with a SS, I would still go with what I currently have: New Audio Frontiers Stradivari. With well-chosen NOS tubes, this preamp can combine with many amps, SS or tube, and add a sweetness, tone, and clarity--a balance that will add value to your setup. It's not low-budget, but much lower than new VAC's, BAT's, or Audio Research's higher-end tube preamps. To buy or inquire: Colin at Gestalt Audio. |
Definitely a tube preamp, with either solid state or tube amp. I have an Aric Audio Motherlode XL preamp driving: CODA S5.5 SS amp, Tubes4HiFI KT-120 tube amp, and an Aric Audio Transcend "Push Pull" EL 34 amp. The Motherlode excels driving all 3 amps, and a serious upgrade over my last solid state preamp. Great preamps can be had from: Aric Audio, Spatial Raven preamp, Supratek, LTA, BAT, Backert Labs, Atma-Sphere....my favorites being the Aric Audio and Raven (which was designed by Don Sachs and Lynn Olson). Great luck on your search |
+2 @larryi Amp and speaker matching is paramount. From personal experience, I have tried a McIntosh 240, Marantz 8b, and a McIntosh 462 with Cornwalls. While the tubes amps sounded nice, the 462 was on another level which your 352 should be as well. I have used a McIntosh C22 MkV and Fisher CX-2 with all the above. Personally, I would sell the C49 and try the C22. The C22 responds surprisingly well to tube rolling. I settled on. Telefunken ECC801S in the output, Telefunken ECC83 in the input, and Amperex ECC83’s in the phono slots. Bottom line, solid state amp and tube preamp.
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