Tube preamp with tube amp

invalid

VR3 wrote: »

You need a tube transport, tube dac, tube pre, tube Amp, tube power conditioner... If you can find a tube speaker you will unlock a black hole

You could get a tube active crossover and direct drive the speakers.

motorstereo

Be careful; all that tube distortion in one spot could slow the earth's rotation.

VR3

I have seen a tube power conditioner but the Name escapes me.

Its a thing

VR3

https://www.vhaudio.com/plasmatron.html

pitdogg2

VR3 wrote: »

https://www.vhaudio.com/plasmatron.html

Discontinued, dadgumit.

VR3

They are just conditioning you to think that, if you heard it you would love it enough to contact them in which case they would strong you along for 3 months and ultimately you will get frustrated and not want to buy it anymore.

Also a thing

pitdogg2

Not me! I cannot afford the tubes themselves.

F1nut

Past all tube office rig. Joule LA100 MkII, ultra rare Manley 75/75 and custom Jolida JD100. I never had all those issues like Tom says he did. The only problem I ever had was when I tried some blue JJ EL34's, one of them went nuclear. They sounded like dog poo anyway, so no loss.

I had an Acoustic Research LS26 in for a short time. It was difficult to tell the difference between it and the Joule. One had a tiny bit more bass, but I don't recall which.

Joey_V

Good question.
Tube pre and tube amps.
For me, I found it great as part of system option if you have SS amps.
Tube amps can be painful to live with long term, but they can sound good within their parameters/limitations. Bass SQ is something you might need to watch out for.

I do like having a tube pre in the system, though I'm beginning to experiment with a SS pre in conjunction as well.

dpowell

A number of years back, I ran an Anthem Amp 1 and an Anthem Pre 2L. I really enjoyed the warmth. SDA effect on 1Cs and 2 3TLs was out of this world.

I would say the Amp was warm sounding enough that adding in the Anthem tube pre did not make as much of a noticeable difference.

Like @treitz3 said, issues with tube matching, blown resistors, etc made the Amp 1 a pain to own. I sometimes regret selling it but did so when I combined 2 channel and HT rigs i to 1 system.

kevhed72

Somewhat related question for the pre-tubes crowd here....how long do you leave em powered up?
All the time, over the weekend, just when listening....or give em a good hour or so to warm up pre-listening?

heiney9

For me just when listening (and an about an hour to warm up) because I don't have a whole lot of time these days for long listening sessions. Plus, my amp takes about an hour to start sounding like it should. I would never leave tube gear on unattended. Even if I was listening all weekend, I'd still power down anything with tubes. Others may feel differently.

H9

treitz3

@kevhed72 - I would NEVER leave a tube amplifier powered up when I wasn't listening or in the room. I have seen the magic smoke before (and the aftermath/possible outcome, had I not unplugged the unit) when I happened to be in the room and the system was not playing anything at that particular time.

That said, I will sometimes leave the DAC's, CDP's and the like on for days at a time, even when I am not in the house. In all my years, I have not yet encountered any issues with the types of tubed components. But, I will say this. Those types of gear were designed to stay on 24/7 and the manufacturer of them even state that they were designed to stay on 24/7. Regardless, I still shut them down if lightning becomes a threat and/or if I am not going to be listening for an extended period of time. FWIW.

Tom

invalid

I leave my tube preamp, tube dac and tube power supply on 24/7 for many years now, it's no more dangerous than leaving solid state equipment on. The most spectacular failure I had was a solid state carver receiver that shot out a 2' flame from the top cover, I've never had tube equipment do that.

pitdogg2

My tubed preamp stays on from Friday night until Monday morning when I leave for work.

bcwsrt

I asked a similar question a while back. Same feedback then ….

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/199524/tube-equipment-power-button-best-practices/p1

Clipdat

I will be finding out soon enough, Luxman CL-38uC on the way.

maxward

Congrats!

Clipdat

Thanks. No idea what to expect.

Wardsweb

I will start with: Like any audio system tube or solid state based, it's all about matching components for some synergy. I have run both in every configuration and each has its merits.

For this thread, I will talk about tube based systems.

I love horns and have 4 systems that use horn speakers. For me, tubes and horns have their own magic. Others have talked about issues but I have had very few over the last 30 years. I have had system that ran the same tubes for 10 years. Yes, there is the occasional tube going bad. I have been lucky to only have 3 or 4 tubes go in my many different systems over the years. (see list below). Depending on the amp, tubes and time, biasing is like rotating the tires on your car. It's maintenance, part of the package and the time varies.

For driving horns, the tubes take the high frequency edge off, that can sometimes occur. I still get the crispness and detail but without the "shout" and sibilance. Some people say that tubes have a warm sound. For me, that means it is not bright and with a smooth midrange. Bass really depends on the tube and the speaker. A 2A3 at 3.5 watts is not going to drive non-efficient speakers real loud. Put them on a high efficiency speaker and they will play louder than you want. Take for instance my JBL C50 Olympus with the Art Forma 2A3. There is plenty of bass and it just sounds right. Up the power and you can even drive electrostats. I've done this with Martin Logan Prodigy and a Jolida JD1000RC at 100wpc.

For my main system, The ASL 845 amp, at 22 wpc, drives the horns and 15" JBL woofer with ease and can really crank, when the need arises.


My Main system:
DIY 6H30 Class A Linestage
Antique Sound Labs AQ1006 845DT MKII

Other gear I own and have owned:
Preamps
Conrad Johnson 16LS
DIY Nelson Pass B1 Korg
DIY Bottlehead 3S4 battery powered
DIY Bottlehead 12AU7


Amps
Arte Forma Audio Feliciano 2A3
McIntosh MC240 6L6GC
Cary 572SE
DIY Loftin White 2A3
DIY Dynaco ST70 EL34
DIY Paramour 2A3
Dynaco Mark III KT88
Final Labs Music 3 EL34
Shanling SP80 EL34/6CA7
Jolida JD1000RC

Clipdat

maxward

A beaut.

haimoc

I had a tube preamp and Cary amp many years ago. They did not sound good in my system until replacing the tube amp with a class A SS.

treitz3

Oh, that reminds me about the Cary tube amp I tried and tried and tried even more.....relentlessly to sound good in my system. It ended up going back.

Nothing wrong with the amp, it was the synergy within my rig. No matter what I did, I could never get it to sound even half way decent.

Tom

Clipdat

Do you remember which model it was?

treitz3

No, but it was the sexiest amplifier I had ever seen in my life.

Jerry (the guy who let me try it out) let me have it and I told him.....you are not getting this back!

He responded, "over my dead body!"

I told him, "Where do I start digging?"

Yeah, it just didn't work out. I have had either 2 or 3 pieces of Cary gear that have come and gone in my system(s) over the years....not one of them have worked.

Synergy. It's a hautch.

Tom