2. amps-preamps
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tubed dac paired to tubed preamp, worth it?

well, its been almost 6 months since fiddling with my system, so, i am going to, because...i feel like it. I wonder if getting a tubed dac paired with my tubed pre will have any impact on sound, or is it overkill, or, no kill at all. I currenly run a canary 906 as my pre, with a musical fidelity A3 24 dac because i run a yamaha 5 disc carousel as it suits my listening habits, i like random..and i am pleased with the sound..but, most of you can relate...time to tweak!!..im wondering if anyone has paired a tube dac to their tubed pre and the results.
dan001
3 responses Add your response
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
No single answer...it depends.

In my case I started with a tube DAC and then added the tube pre-amp and have since used both tube and SS dacs with good results. The difference will be more in the specific sound you are looking for rather than the DAC technology used. If I had to choose between tube dac and tube pre-amp, I would go with tube pre-amp.
teajay
1,691 posts
 
Dan001, take a look at my system, I use a tube based DAC and a tube linestage which is sounds superlative in my rig. Another important aspect is to get the right NOS tubes to get the synergy you want in your system.
plato
1,543 posts
 
It didn't help my system any. I was running the Rega Apollo with the Monarchy Audio tube DAC with a custom 6SN7 tube line stage preamp. The system sounded more detailed but still musical and smooth with only the Apollo feeding tube preamp. So I ended up selling the Monarchy DAC.

If I didn't have the excellent tube line stage the results might have been different.
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