2. amps-preamps
  3. 1103816815

Tube Newbie

I have been running a fairly beautiful 5.1 surround set-up over the last few years, and have grown a bit weary of my 2-channel quality. While I love the quality of surround sources (DVD, HDTV, ProLogic II), I tend to get listening fatigue with dynamic music. My goal is to warm-up 2-channel, making it more itimate witout wiping out the detail and punch in my 5.1 sources.

A good friend has suggested a CD player with a tubed output stage, like the Ah line carried by Upscale Audio. I am also considering a VTL 2-channel amp (around $2K) to drive the L/Rs of my system.

I am wondering how difficult it is to deal with tubes. I have read about "biasing" tube-based amps and have no idea what that intails.

My current system consists of: Gallo Reference 3s L/R, 7 channels of amplification from Parasound Halo (A52/A23), Def Tech SuperCube II sub, Gallo Dues for the surrounds and a soon-to-be-upgraded B&W LCR600 for the center channel. The Gallo Reference 3s have the second coil of the woofer bi-amped via an Outlaw Audio ICBM (hence the 7-channels of amplification). Processing is via an older Rotel RSX-1055 (using the pre-amp outs) while I figure out what pre/pro to get. The DVD/CD player is an Integra 5.3 using the analog outs for 2-channel.

Thanks,
Ted
teonyc

Showing 1 response by c123666

c123666
871 posts
 
I would suggest a DAC with a tube output stage in conjunction with a player/transport. I used Sony DVP-S7000 is an excellent used value at 125 to 200 for a transport as is the dvp-s7700. The Cal Audio Labs Sigma and Alpha DACS are nice sounding and reasonably priced on the used market; company is out of business so beware on that account. Used Audio Note DACs are excellent values for the lower range models such as the DAC 1, 1 Signature, and 2/2 Signature.

If you have a CD player with a coaxial output get the DAC first and try it. You may decide to keep the CD player you have an use it only as a transport.
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