2. analog
  3. 1174275589

tubes and analog

I just "upgraded" from a Mac SS integrated to a Prima luna dialogue 2 tube amp. The reason that I changed amps was that i assumed that the tube amp would be a better match for my Zu Druid speakers. The amp change was a big improvment for listening through my CDP....but not so when listening to my Rega P9. I had to switch to my spare SS phono stage (Graham slee) to get it to sound right. I was using a tube phono (AES) with my Mac. In Short, my tube amp with SS phono stage is not really an upgrade from my Mac with Tube phono stage. My question is.....should i consider a further upgrade to a better tube phono pre or is it simply that a change from SS to Tube amp is more "pronounced" in digital playback?
csmithbarc

Showing 2 responses by opus111

opus111
58 posts
 
I agree 100% with Rauliruegas. One may prefer tube over SS, but stating that tubes retrieve more detail than transistors is simply misleading.
opus111
58 posts
 
I have owned literally hundreds of tubes and solidstate amps and preamps (and phonostages) over the years, everything from MFA Lumi C/MC Reference, Lamm L1/L2, Airtight ATE-2/ATM-2, Counterpoint SA4/SA9/SA11, Atma-Sphere M60s, Futterman OTL3/H3A, Vendetta SCP-2B, JRDG Cadence/Coherence II, Threshold SA1/SA4e, Spectral DMC-20 NKII, Levinson ML-2/6B/7A/N0.26s/25s/20.6/380S, Marantz 2/5/7C/8B, etc, and currently have 5 turtables (EMT 930ST, Garrard 301 w/EMT 997 and SME3012R, Thorens TD124 II with Ortofon RMG212, Linn LP12 Valhalla w/ Naim Aro, and Win SDC-1) hooked up to various tube and solidstage equipments and I have owned many other turntables in the past.

I believe I am qualified to speak my opinion based on my experience, so please don't tell me I have not heard a properly set up system with the state-of-the-art analog and tube electronics.

While I prefer tube over solidstate and agree with your opinion that tube gears sound smoother than SS in general, I don't think tubes inherently retrieve more details than transistors. It all depends on the design and how competent a designer is.

You obviously have a vested interest in tubes, being a manufacturer of OTL amps and preamps (I like/admire your design a lot), and I can certainly appreciate your enthusiasm and strong belief in the superiority of tube over transistor, but stating your opnion as if it is the only truth does not earn my respect (not that you need it!).

I have heard many lousy sounding/unreliable tube equipments and the same can be said of the SS gears too. I have also heard and owned some very nice sounding tube gears and the same can be said of the SS gears.
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