Tube Preamplifier Time

Thank you everyone for your reccomendation of a preamplifier to try out with my setup. Now the good news is that I live in nyc and can somewhat search these models out for listening sessions.

Enjoy the music! Chris

Liked the sound of VTL's 5.5 preamp during an in store demo and went out and bought my first piece of used gear from the site here. The first thing that entered my mind once playing the first cd inserted was, Oh man this is going to become a habit were I dont want it to! In that it drastically changed the overall sound of the system from what the marantz ss AV-550 pre I'd always owned and used since purchasing my first piece of hi-end equipment which is the Krell amp I've had for 7yrs. I guess the best way to describe the additional enjoyment the new preamp brings is that Bass had always just been a thump or tap to my ears whereas it's now felt with weight, texture and authority. Brass and violins have certainly been tamed down a bit and have a seamlessness layered feel from the high pitched noises that the marantz produced. So far and it's only been about 3hrs. of listening I find my self looking for details and clarity that were easier heard on the Marantz. The sound now has a warmth and instruments appear rounded off in detail where I'm struggling to hear everything on the recording. Maybe this is a low in trade for the strong points of tube technology. Perhaps I should play at louder levels? I think that their might be an impedence issue as one of the gentlemen over at VTL said the 5.5 would better match with my Krell amp. I havent changed the tubes or even checked to see if the units biased properlly which could be the reason for what I'm hearing but I doubt it. Just need to get used to this new sound which I feel really does bring me much nearer to a live music performance Chris

Thanks for the replies guys!
Cedar,
I appreciate your words in relation to striving for what sounds like similar characteristics and am glad to know I'm understood and making some kind of sense when describing my systems sound and what I no longer hear without the solid state pre.
Jond,
When I listened to the pre originally when auditioning the spks. that I purchased from the dealer brand new I kinda had a hunch that the combination would satisfy me. On a later visit and broke as a joke I still had dreams of getting the dreadfull marantz thingy out and a tube pre in which my dealer recommended for real Hi-Fi when I took the plunge for the Thiels. Major finacial recovery time it took me after dropping 4400 on them and a more than a year wait I decided to buy used and also a model lower TL2.5 which I have never heard or demoed. Come to think of it I think that I was originally sold on the spks while listening through a Burmester pre. Now, I totally can understand listening spent with the dealer is precious time and dont believe I could have had a better experience than that with which the gentleman over a Sound by Singer offered. With the courtesy that has always been given to me upon visiting this store you can bet it will be my new equipment purchasing stop and I by no means want to use him. Perhaps I should find other audiophiles locally to hear different equipment?

Chris

The VTL preamp I purchased used fried the power transformer within playing music for 25hrs. This is very heart breaking to me and will make me much more cautious in purchasing used equipment in the future. Bea over at VTL says to me that it's in great looking shape at which point I agree and also comment that it's surprising this happened. Should I look into cleaner power such as using a conditioner before connecting to the apartment wall?

Very sad times I tell ya not to have tunes at the moment very sad. In the mean time I have chucked out a bunch of bills to get a mapleshade samson v.1 equipment rack after realizing the terrible crap that is the Lovan hollow metal tubed MDF 3/4in fiberboard I once started out with upon getting my first system.

Preamp has come back from service after $350 in bills from VTL. Considering I'm very happy with how it sounds with the rest of the system I can say in addition with the $900 I paid used before it acted up I'm still feeling ok, The time lost while it was away seemed more painfull which brings me to a question I have for you out there listening. Should I protect my ac power with a line conditioner? I dont exactly know what caused the power transformer in the preamp to blow but I am suspect that it might have been something to do with the power.

I live in a nyc apartment where lights are always dimming, When the fridge kicks, electric heater is turned on and such. All my other components have been ok plugged into the wall sockets for at least a couple of yrs. now with nothing to worry about. Anybody with experience, reccomendations or ideas would be very appreciated.

Chris

Thanks for the ideas guys. I am really in the market now for a conditioner of some sort being that my cd player started skipping on any disk I put in after adjusting the light dimmer control in the same room. The next morning it worked just fine so go figure? I believe the house may be wired funky and have unplugged all stereo components until further protection. Is the Shunyata or Nordost products any count? Dollar bills I know they cost alot of

Thanks Audphile1,
I appreciate your input on what could and maybe the culprit. To be more accurate the player goes into what seems like a laser tracking issue from the sound of it rather than a skip like I mentioned before. It usually happens on the second or so track on any cd and then every other one I put in until I turn the power off and back on again so it is an intermittent kind of problem. I played at least four cd's the other night without any problems. I'm gonna take a Furman ac power conditioner from the job in the mean time and see how it sounds.