2. amps-preamps
  3. 1334189112

what is a good tube pre amp out there...........

i have and love the conrad johnson tube sound. i have a pv10 and pv12, both sound fantastic. but how do i know if its the best if i have never tried any thing else. my associate equipment is: alon 4 speakers on the 12 and axiom m80's on the other, cj 2300a and 2500a power amps, rotel 975 and nad 545eee cd players, interconnect are tara labs vector 1 on both. audioquest speaker wire on the 10 and some home mades from axiom speaker co on the other. i heard about vtl, bat and others, please give me the pro's and con's of each you feel is best. also some fyi on proper amp/pre matching that im just learning about. thank s in advance.
kennesawjet

Showing 3 responses by czbbcl

czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I went from a PV-10 to a premier 17 then on to the premier 16 and in each case the improvement was dramatic in all areas. So I would suggest you stay within the cj line if that is the sonic character you enjoy.

Cary makes outstanding tubed preamps as well so you might try one of theirs. Although they have what I would call a similar sonic signiture to cj. If you are looking for something more on the anayltic side then ARC or BAT may be worth a try. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve or improve over what you have.

Chuck
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
Kennesawjet understandable and fun to do and if you buy used and don't like it you can always flip it. I am using a Cary SLI-80F1 integrated and love it but cj is great as well. Based on your comment about ARC it sounds like you like cj and would probably also like Cary.

John agree and I was only generalizing which can be dangerous and probably shouldn't do it. I have heard ARC on several ocasions and like their equipment. BAT I have heard only a couple of times and for short periods but liked it also. Also agree system synergy is everything my Cary mates very well with my Focal Be's.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I use all silver cabling (HGA) as well and find it to be very transparent and organic sounding; not harsh in any way. I also use NOS tubes in the Cary and the sound is very open and detailed and smooth.
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