Moved Tube Buffer

deronb1

After replacing an Adcom pre and amp with a comparable Parasound pre and amp, I decided I didn't need to employ my tube buffer anymore. Sounded great with MOST discs.

I noticed though, with some of my more "hot" reference discs, eg. "She's The One"- Tom Petty, and "Come Away With Me" - Norah Jones, the sound could still get a little shrill at higher volumes.

So, I moved the tube buffer between the SACD player and pre. Fixed the shrillness, while still keeping it dynamic. Trade off is I need a little more gain for equal SPL.

Long story short, and I am not saying anything that most here don't already know, is that, a tube buffer is a relatively inexpensive item that can make your system more flexible and open up more of your music collection to be more "listenable" as you continue to upgrade your system. (run on sentence)

pglbook

deron, sorry for the ignorance ( I am just learning a lot of the complexities of this great hobby), but what exactly is a tube buffer?
What does it do and what is the advantage of having one?

I currently have the following system (looking for a nice Parasound power amp and pre amp but, for know, this setup is suiting me just fine): Yamaha CR 2020 receiver, Rotel RCC 945 CD player, Polk SDA 2B tl speakers. Strictly 2 channel.
Would a tube buffer be something I should look into?

Thanks. This is a great site..full of lots of cool and knowledgeable people..and I love to learn as much as I can about this stuff.

deronb1

pglbook wrote: »

deron, sorry for the ignorance ( I am just learning a lot of the complexities of this great hobby), but what exactly is a tube buffer?
What does it do and what is the advantage of having one?

I currently have the following system (looking for a nice Parasound power amp and pre amp but, for know, this setup is suiting me just fine): Yamaha CR 2020 receiver, Rotel RCC 945 CD player, Polk SDA 2B tl speakers. Strictly 2 channel.
Would a tube buffer be something I should look into?

Thanks. This is a great site..full of lots of cool and knowledgeable people..and I love to learn as much as I can about this stuff.

Not dumb at all. I knew little about tube buffers before I joined this forum. Many solid state electronics can make music sound "bright", "tinny", "metallic", if you will, with revealing speakers, such as yours and my 2Bs. A tube buffer placed between the CD and pre or pre and amp, can help soften the sound a bit. It is nothing drastic, but certainly noticable. Look on ebay under tube buffers in consumer electronics.

pglbook

deron, thanks for the detailed info. Very helpful and informative. I like the sound of my Yamaha CR 2020 receiver a lot. I know that people in this forum prefer separates over all-in-on receivers but I think the Yammie CR 2020 is a great-sounding receiver and it does a fantastic job powering the SDA 2Bs. I was worried about that becuase I had heard that the SDA 2Bs needed a lot of power. But the Yammie does as good of a job powering the SDA 2Bs is it did with my Polk Monitor 10As (which were my main speakers unitl getting the SDA 2Bs a little over a month ago from forum member bluecomet). The Dahlquist DQ 10s are another story. They are very power-hungry speakers and need a lot more power than the 105 watt Yammie CR 2020. The Yammie reciever has a very clean sound, not "metallic" or "tinny" or "bright" at all so I will not need a tube buffer with it. But I really appreciate your detailed information. I am looking into getting into separates. I will of course keep my Yammie receiver but I also want to explore the world of separates. I am currently looking for a nice Parasound HCA 1200 or HCA 1200 MK II amp but am having a hard time finding one of those. Thanks again. I appreciate it. Hope you are not snowed in as we are! I am tired of shoveling snow, haaa. Time to listen to some music!