• 10-13-2006, 07:38 PM
    minye
    Question about Tube Pre-amp
    Read a lot about the topic "tube pre-amp with ss amp" and I am a little interested in it.

    I started with HT system and now I am 50/50 in HT and music. I never heard a tube sound. I use Lexicon DC2 Pre-pro and Bryston 3B amp to drive Studio 40. I know tubes sound more smooth, warm and sweet...good for music. I am just wondering if I intruduce a tube pre-amp like Audio Research LS3 to work with Bryston SS amp, how the result would be and how much inprovement I could get over DC2's 2 channel performance. How much those" smooth, sweet.." would I get?

    Thanks
  • 10-14-2006, 03:46 AM
    Feanor
    Recent thread
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by minye
    Read a lot about the topic "tube pre-amp with ss amp" and I am a little interested in it.

    I started with HT system and now I am 50/50 in HT and music. I never heard a tube sound. I use Lexicon DC2 Pre-pro and Bryston 3B amp to drive Studio 40. I know tubes sound more smooth, warm and sweet...good for music. I am just wondering if I intruduce a tube pre-amp like Audio Research LS3 to work with Bryston SS amp, how the result would be and how much inprovement I could get over DC2's 2 channel performance. How much those" smooth, sweet.." would I get?

    Thanks
    Hi, minye,


    You might want to refer to the recent thread that talks about tube pre/SS power ...My personal remarks can be found there too ...I'm not a Bryston expert, but many people know more maintain that the newer Brystons in the ST and SST series are smoother sounding than the older series.
  • 10-20-2006, 07:33 PM
    Mr Peabody
    A tube preamp would change your presentation. I recommend some in home auditions before you buy. Tube preamps can sound as different from each other as solid state. Audio Research will sound quite different than a Conrad Johnson for instance. I've heard both and prefer CJ but others go the other way and you may as well. So it's good to get a feel for a few before deciding on one.

    A couple other things you may consider, you can try a tube DAC for stereo listening and in my experience you can change your systems presentation by using another brand of cables. I've known from the beginning of my higher end listening that cables indeed made a difference. Recently I've been able to compare a few brands in my system and realized more than ever how they can effect the sound. I've found silver conductor cables I've used are the best. Siltech is a brand I'd recommend giving a listen to.

    I had Krell in my main system and become interested in tube sound. I first added an Audio Note DAC. This was a very nice improvement, unfortunately it didn't satisfy me, it just got me hungrier to see what would happen with more tubes.