2. amps-preamps
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What is a better route, tube or SS preamp?

Hi everyone! I recently unloaded all of my home theatre gear, and am concentrating on a 2 channel stereo system. So far I have a shanling cd-80, a naim 150 amp, Martin logan aerius loudspeakers, and a carver ct-17 preamp. I'm looking to replace the preamp, however, I'm not sure wether I should go solid state or tube. I know I need to demo some of both, but I wanted some opinions or if anyone has prior experience in this matter. Right now my amp is a SS and my cd has tube output. Everything sounds pretty good, but I want it to sound great!
Also, I will mostly be listening to a lot of hard rock and heavy metal, but also a lot of classic rock as well..
Lastly, I am aware of the amp input impedance and preamp output impedance ratio for both tube and SS. Is there anything else I should consider when pairing an amp and preamp?
Any help would be much appreciated!
Thanks everyone!
bstevens

Showing 3 responses by mapman

mapman's avatar
mapman
21,863 posts
 
If you go the tube pre-amp route, newer ARC pre-amps are fine choices for all kinds of music, including rock and metal. I would be cautious with some tube pre-amps though especially for this kind of music. I use an sp16 with Class D amplifiers. It is hard to tell what amplification technology is used. It just sounds great! I like that!

Be aware that if you go tube pre-amp, output impedance is higher and for rock/pop/electronic music in particular to sound best, clean and dynamic, you should make sure input impedance of you amp is 30K ohms or greater. Many amps designed to work well with tube pre-amps are 60K ohms input impedance or higher. My Bel Cantos are 100K ohms input impedance. The higher the better though benefits of going too high may be marginal or not significant.

If not sure about impedance matching between a tube pre and SS amp, stick with a good SS pre-amp. I would be looking at Bel Canto pre-amps if it were me.

I also replaced an old Carver pre-amp with the ARC sp 16. Huge difference! Definitely worth a try!
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,863 posts
 
"The drawback to tube pre's is that if/when a tube goes a pair of expensive speakers is probaly going with it."

I have not found that to be the case so far (knock on wood) with my ARC sp16, but that is certainly something worth considering with any tube gear. It may sound lovely, but how well protected are you when a tube inevitably fails? Definitely worth knowing an answer, if you can find it.
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,863 posts
 
"The drawback to tube pre's is that if/when a tube goes a pair of expensive speakers is probaly going with it."

I have not found that to be the case so far (knock on wood) with my ARC sp16, but that is certainly something worth considering with any tube gear. It may sound lovely, but how well protected are you when a tube inevitably fails? Definitely worth knowing an answer, if you can determine it in advance somehow.
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