Tube Pre Advice

george daniel

System= 1/c's amp= paraound 1200-looking to get into tube pre, considering Sonic Frontiers,Audible Illusions, I'm new to tubes,any advice would be greatly appreciated. Mainly listen to early rock,jazz,some classical, Thanks in advance

W WALDECKER

hey George, i really like what a tube preamp does for the sound in my system.the Anthem pre1L that i bought used and in perfect condition sounds great in my system but i am looking for a preamp with a remote control and if i find one i would let you have the Anthem for what i paid for it. if i find another tube preamp i will pm you first and let you decide if you want it or not. thanks buddy.......WCW III

PolknPepsi

I am anxious to someday own a preamp from www.juicymusicaudio.com They are popular with many over at the Klipsch forum. Around here the Dodd preamp if I'm not mistaken is popular brand.

I would really like to mate a tube pre with one of those Pro amps from Crown........ power power power

george daniel

Thanks guy's, I'm looking @ an Audible Illusions, modulus 3

W WALDECKER

george daniel wrote:

Thanks guy's, I'm looking @ an Audible Illusions, modulus 3

hey,George it almost seems like i am following you around the website. i am not sure if there is any truth to it or not but from what i have been reading on tube vendor websites and also on audio forums the modulus 3 preamps gobble up tubes and are very finicky about what tubes they work well with. i considered buying the same preamp but what i have read about them made me steer clear of them. i am looking to buy a used Balanced Audio Technology VK 3i myself only because i want a remote control for the convieniece aspect of it.

madmax

I have the AI M3a. It is a great preamp! I have had no problem with mine at all. It is a very clean preamp and does not change the character of the source material at all. The only thing I must warn you about is obviously that it does not have a remote control. Also, If yours has the stepped attenuators once in awhile depending upon the amplifier you may get a little noise while changing the volume. Don't get too worried though, it only happened with one amp I had, not on any of the others. Very small annoyance in any case. Some have complained of it eating up tubes but if you get reasonable ones you will have no problems. For example I'll list a link here. I like mine for sure.

http://thetubestore.com/rus696h.html

If you have any particular questions I'll be happy to answer them. BTW, I've had mine for about 5 years now and am still in love with it.

madmax

W WALDECKER

madmax wrote:

I have the AI M3a. It is a great preamp! I have had no problem with mine at all. It is a very clean preamp and does not change the character of the source material at all. The only thing I must warn you about is obviously that it does not have a remote control. Also, If yours has the stepped attenuators once in awhile depending upon the amplifier you may get a little noise while changing the volume. Don't get too worried though, it only happened with one amp I had, not on any of the others. Very small annoyance in any case. Some have complained of it eating up tubes but if you get reasonable ones you will have no problems. For example I'll list a link here. I like mine for sure.

http://thetubestore.com/rus696h.html

If you have any particular questions I'll be happy to answer them. BTW, I've had mine for about 5 years now and am still in love with it.

madmax

what you just posted here after five years of basically trouble free service from the modulus 3 brings to mind an old saying. NOTE: dont believe anything you read and only half of what you see!

madmax

Oh, I'm sure some people have had problems. If you read that tube link you will notice the statement "even for punishing preamps like the audible illusion". The thing to keep in mind about tubes are that even though two different tubes have the same number (like 6922) there are often several topographies (is that the right word here?) used and sometimes you have to pick the correct one.

In any case I had the original "AI" tubes when I got it and although they were not bad I replaced them with the ones on that link. Since then (about 3 years ago) they have been on continuously except for storms and vacations. Every now and then I plug in something different to see what it sounds like but overall have had the same ones in. I did try a few Amperex Bugle Boy tubes and out of three sets mangaged all three times to get bad ones. I think that is just luck of the draw. You are right though, getting a reputation is easy. I still have no problems recommending the preamp.
madmax

george daniel

Thanks again for the advice, I knew I could depend on ya'll

PolknPepsi

george daniel wrote:

Thanks guy's, I'm looking @ an Audible Illusions, modulus 3

I am going to bookmark that place and check it out. Some day I really want to try a tube preamp.

W WALDECKER

PolknPepsi wrote:

I am going to bookmark that place and check it out. Some day I really want to try a tube preamp.

buddy if you do you will never go back to solid state. i was skeptical at first because i am a very hard headed individual.as soon as i tried a tubed preamp in my system i knew i would never go back to a SS preamp again ever!

madmax

You might want to try a CAT preamp George. I haven't heard one but have heard several comment about the differences between it and the AI. The comparison I've heard is that the AI is a very clear gain stage. Adds nothing, takes nothing away. I can attest to this. Supposedly (to those who have compared both) the CAT does the same thing but really emphasizes dynamics. I plan on trying one at some point.

Here is a link. I picked it only because it had good pics. The prices are all over the place. It comes in silver also.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1132234208

madmax