WILL IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?


My system consists of the following

Integrated Amp. - Hegel H160

Speakers – Fritz Carbon 7

Dac – Denafrips Venus II

Server- Innous Zenith MK3

Turntable – Rega RP8

Cartridge- Hana ML

Phono Pre – Icon Audio PS1 MKII

Power Conditioner – Puritan PSM156

 

I stream most of my music, listen to everything from 60’s rock to blues and Jazz.  My system as it currently exists sounds pretty good.  My wife thinks it sound great.  My main complaint with the existing system is it is still a little bright and I do experience some listener fatigue. 

I am considering another upgrade.  I have always had solid state integrated amplifiers. I am considering tube integrated amplifiers.  My budget is 7 to 10K.  If you have gone from SS to Tube, what did you buy?  What was the most striking difference out of the box and 300 hours in?  Did you keep the speakers you had?

I am not completely sure that a tube amp. is what my system needs.  I thought speakers could also make a difference.  So, I am considering adding Joseph Audio Pulsar 2 Graphene to my current system.  If anyone would like to give me their impression of them I would greatly appreciate it.  I have read that they pair well with Hegel Amps.   

I have had the Carbon7’s since 2013.  I like them a lot.  I had also purchased Fritz’s Carrera 7Be.  I sold them because I did not like beryllium tweeters, I thought I would, but I did not.  BTW Fritz is a class act.

Ag insider logo xs@2xjili12

@jili12

around 25 years ago I bought a bunch of vintage NOS tubes from someone who most on this & other sites hold in high esteem. At that time he did not sell interconnects, and I don’t know for positive, but I don’t think that he does today, either. I asked him about mixing & matching brands of tubes:

he told me that was not his favorite thing, but not as bad as mixing & matching interconnects.

To oversimplify his explanation on that, if interconnect pair-A from source to preamp do sonic-thing#1 quite well but lack on sonic-thing#2 and is matched with interconnect-pair-B from preamp to amp and those interconnects lack on sonic-thing#1 but do sonic-thing#2 well, those two pairs of interconnect cables are cancelling each other’s best attributes out. Meaning that his advice was to stick with one brand of interconnect from source to amp. At the time, at least during that conversation, he did not have any skin in the interconnect game.

 

I hadn't even heard of Margules amps until I was at an audio show in the spring where a Margules U280SC tube amplifier was driving a pair of six-figure Raidhos. It sounded amazing, and I ended up purchasing the 30th-anniversary edition of the amp. No regrets. If you can audition a Margules amp someday, I don't think you'll leave unimpressed.

Similar to "twoleftears" above, I'm surprised that you find the Hegel sound "bright". I'm not in your listening room, nor do I have the listening experience with all your components as a group. You may want to research other issues first such room acoustics, dacs, even cables. But saying that, I prefer a tube sound. I had a Luxman R117 Receiver which has always been well reviewed and industry accepted. However, I swapped to the Rogue Audio Sphinx, then upgraded to the Rogue Cronus Magnum II, and now finally, to the new Rogue Pharaoh II. I love the tube sound. I love the ability to alter the sound with "tube rolling". Now with SS power, and a tube preamp, I'm very happy. Should you want to venture into tubes, the Rogue Audio folks can't be beat for answers and service. Find a close Rogue dealer and listen for yourself. Better yet if you can audition a Rogue Amp in your home. Ask. Very probable that can happen. Good luck and happy listening!

I don't know Morrow. May want to try NR power cables from Shunyata. A Shunyata Zi-tron digital alpha helped my system a lot in regard to top end edginess brightness and their new generation NR PC's are supposed to be even better. 

Are you using stock fuses? If so may want to consider upgrading them. I've gone to Synergistic Research fuses and these helped a lot too. 

Seems worth a try with these changes first IMHO

Good luck and hopefully fun with this!