Last night I was listening to my tube preamp and my tube mono blocks, noticed an imbalance in the sound, and as usual I traced it to a tube problem in the mono blocks. Luckily, I also own a ss stereo amp as a 'backup'. IME, ss amps tend to be a lot more reliable than tube amps. Nonetheless, I would be interested in how many other folk run a tube preamp and ss amp combo, and if so, what are your choices.
I actually just bought a ss amp (Modright 100SE) for summer use,and my tube amp will be idle until fall.My Dac and pre are both tubed. I like the extra power and not thinking about the care and feeding of valves for now:-)It took a little fussing with switching out cables to get it to play well with my Harbeths,as it has high- ish gain which isn't adjustable like the Aric Audio amp.
I run an Allnic L1500 into a Benchmark AHB2. What stands out most with this combo is the incredible dynamics. I have no desire to revert to a full-tube amp in my main system.
Quicksilver Line Stage into a heavily modded Odyssey Khartago (into Klipsch Heresy IV’s). The quicksilver will probably be swapped for something else (possibly Decware CSP3, AVA Vision or...?)
Good question. If anyone has tried tube preamp + SS amps, plural, I'm curious whether there were sonic differences traceable to the kind of solid state. E.g.,
tube + class A vs. tube + class A/B vs. tube + class D etc.
Yes major differences but probably more due to overall design of specific amps used than the general operating Class. I would say sound of the Class D Bel Canto amps I use currently resembles sound I have heard in the past with Krell and Classe amps. Makes dynamic speakers sound more like electrostats (think quad and ML). Very fast effortless and clean but also with dynamics intact.
I like the tube preamp and SS power amp combo. You should try it both ways because tubes always fail and power amp tubes are more costly. If you have to re-bias the tubes each time, that is also a pain. A lot of people are into class D power amps, I haven't tried one myself.
I have run a Audio Research tube preamp with a Pass X350 for over ten years. An excellent combination. I had stayed away from tube amps because of the reliability ‘ biasing need. Then a couple years ago the Audio Research rep came through with the new ARC REF 160m (mono blocks). Micro processor controlled tubes... no biasing and greatly increased tube life... finally I thought. As soon as the REF 160s comes out I’m getting one. I did. As soon as I swapped it in I realized I should have put up with a tube amp earlier. The richness of the midrange and bass simply isn’t in the same ballpark.
The Pass XA series will be more like tubes. If you are headed that way. I think it would be a really difficult transition. But I would go with Pass, he is an outstanding amplifier designer.
BAT VK51SE pre and Krell FBP-300 amp. One of the great Dan D'Agastino class A designs from before he left Krell.
While I have often paired tube preamps w/ SS power amps and believe this route often makes great sense, the pairing of amp and speakers is far more important. IMHO, the preamp choice is more independent unless you have a relatively rare impedance mismatch.
If you are dipping your toe into tubes for the first time, preamps are certainly a simpler and less costly way to do so. Tube rolling options are WAY more available (vs. rolling tube power amps) and will allow tuning to your personal taste easily and at modest cost. Cheers, Spencer
I have a tube preamp and SS amp (McIntosh C2600 & MC302). I was a tube novice (and ignorant) and appreciate the features and sound.
I've gained a bit more exposure to tube systems and for me it comes down to the results. I've been impressed with Audio Research, VTL and Rouge as well as McIntosh and other SS manufacturers like Moon, Naim.
I moved from Primaluna hp integrated to Rogue RP7 and Bel Canto Ref600M monos class D. Been a tube guy for years but wanted more headroom less heat and less weight. Not missing the tubes so far but only been a few months. Maybe not quite as involving in the mid range but more layers and sound stage is great.
SS Power Amps Merrill Audio Taranis (Class D) First Watt F7 (Class A)
I hear clear differences between these two power amps but am inclined to agree with earlier comments by @mapman on reasons for the differences.
Most of the time they are used as follows.... Freya>Taranis>Totem Forests Freya>F7>Silverline Prelude Pluses
Switching the speakers is possible and sounds great. The lower power F7 drives the Forests surprisingly well BUT there’s no denying the immediacy brought by the high power Taranis (which also sounds excellent driving the Silverlines).
Luxman CL38U SE tube preamp. I have a choice. The Bryston 2.5 sst2. Or a pair of modified Class A Threshold T-50 mono blocks. Each amp has 20 IGBT transistors. Modified by Michael Bladelius.
@wolf_garcia Guitar players dont really care how much distortion the tube gives off...in fact the more the better. Not a good analogy with home audio, IMHO.
I specifically mentioned home audio, and the guitar player analogy relates to the reliability of tube gear in general, with professional tube amps seeming far more reliable than solid state. Guitar players play clean and otherwise and generally put gear through much more abuse than pampered home amps. My experience is with both a home audio hobby and a pro gear career.
I totally disagree with the tube reliability. SS is more reliable in both use options. I don't pamper my SS, run wide open sometimes with 6 kW output, 42 years old, only changed caps.
Most guitar players I know, including myself, utilize tube amps for the simple reason that we want a tube amps distortion capabilities, along with the clean channel. Not because we believe the tube amps to be more reliable. YMMV.
Been running this way for years and very happy, but…
Previous combo was a ModWright SWL 9.0 SE with an Audio Research 100.2. Wonderful. Later switched out to a ModWright LS36.5 with the 100.2. Even better. Currently LS36.5 with Pass X250 which is a great combination.
But now the but. When streaming or any digital I am bypassing the tube preamp and running my RME ADI fs2 DAC/Teddy Pardo direct into my amp. Really enjoying going direct. Will keep the ModWright when I want to play vinyl… for now.
I've had Herron amps since they were first released. Started out as M-150's but were upgraded to M1's. They were first driven by a Herron VTSP-1, but now a VTSP-3A (r03).
I have been considering getting a tubed Rogue RP-7 to pair with my Jeff Rowland S.S. Model 12 monoblocks but I was not certain that the RP-7 would be $4500 better than my Classe SSP-800's analog pass through.
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