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New game with active speakers

Been at this audiophile game for some decades and felt I had a handle on most parameters, until active speakers.  I’ve been a tube guy for years since leaving my Sugden Class A integrated:  Manley stuff and the latest, a deHavilland Mercury 3 preamp.  Now I find that active speakers do not necessarily like tubes.  At least mine don’t.

Decided to send my deHavilland in for upgrades and went to using the preamp section of my Sugden A21SE.  Wow!  Better in every way.   How is that?   More dynamic, better attack.  Now I have an ATC CA2 preamp to drive the ATC 40As and the synergism is terrific!  

A dealer of ATC speakers echoed the observation.  He stated he too was for years a tube guy, until active speakers.  Now I’m back to solid state after years of sneering at those clots still mired in SS.  Those neophytes, Philistines.  Oh, how humbling.


celtic66
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Not surprising.  ENORMOUS spectrum of performance exists in and between all system genres. This is one example of how wildly different systems can sound.i experience such  changes regularly.  Tubes have not assured better sound for many years.  
cd318
2,636 posts
 
It’s one of those things where we kind of know that active is better, must be better, certainly in theory, but can’t be bothered to deal with all the hassle (or the imagined limitations/restrictions we’d be subjected to?).

Reviewers naturally enough, with product to promote, don’t seem to endorse it very often either, so here’s asking.

What’s the simplest way of going active?
kmurp
7 posts
 
Don’t know the simplest but the KEF LS50w is a pretty simple way to go.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,558 posts
 
Can also depend on your source software. Tight, digital, multitracked recordings can be amazing with SS but an all-analog late 50s record best with tubes. 
klh007
617 posts
 
@celtic66, the poor performance with a tubed preamp could be from mismatched impedance, either high output impedance out of preamp, or low input impedance on the active speakers? A SS pre almost always has a low output impedance and that just might be a much better synergy to the active speakers?
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