Tube Preamplifier/ Solid State Power amplifier

W WALDECKER · October 2005

who on this forum is using this combination and do you ever consider going back to a SS preamp? and also what combination of Tube preamp/ SS amp are you using ? thanks....WCW III

DAGLJAM6 · October 2005

I won't be going back, great sound and too much flexibility (rolling tubes on the pre and speaker selection based on the amp).What more sould you ask for? A relatively easy way to push about any speaker load out there and the ability to custom tailor the sound to your individual preferences. The only thing that i'll be looking at in the near future is upgrading power amps. I've got a plain jane Kenwood M2A amp on one set up and an Adcom on the other, matched with the Dodd ELP and CJ PV10b tubed pre's. I'm happy with the sound but want to explore some other power side options.

george daniel · October 2005

A I L -1,thru adcom 555, and parasound (now sold)HCA 1200 II,yes Belles 350a, in 4 days,, the tube pre is smoother, high's seem to more natural, music is not as colored,everything seems more "natural",music seems to flow from the 1c's without effort, the mids and high's really impressed me, very easy on the ears,(less grainy) I've been up since 5 am with phones on, Orbinson, Hendrix @ woodstock, Cream@ Royal Albert Hall,currently experimenting with tubes,put in some JJ's e88cc's, awaiting some amperex bb's. I got this pre from agon,previously owned by an attorney in Nashville,we swap e-mails and he is awaiting my report on the belles,as the l-1 and belles are supposed to be a match made in heaven. I cannot stress enough that Everything that I have listened to so far just sounds "more" the way it should,more natural,,even my wife noticed a difference and likes it.WW,you've heard this from before,so I'll stop rambling,but I just can't get enough,I keep going back for more,,everything old, is new again, why I did not do this years ago,I'll never know. For my system, it's perfect

ND13 · October 2005

Dodd MLP with PSound HCA 1200II^^

and I'll never, ever go back to a SS pre. And I can't see ever needing another pre, since I have the ELP also.

:cool:

george daniel · October 2005

I hope that you found the packing acceptable

ND13 · October 2005

george daniel wrote:

I hope that you found the packing acceptable

I bet you don't have a piece of styrofoam or bubble pack left in your house or neighborhood, do you???

Oh and guys/gals, this fella uses athletic/medical grade tape(on the inside, not the outside) instead of the cheap ****. You can tell he's in the medical field

shack · October 2005

Dodd ELP and NAD C270 SS amp. And yes, right now I've moved the Dodd out of the mix and I'm using my NAD C160 SS pre. IMO either setup is just fine.

george daniel · October 2005

You got that right,,I even did the "shake test" before I took it down to shipping, those people hide all of the packing material when they see me coming their way.Enjoy-

ND13 · October 2005

george daniel wrote:

You got that right,,I even did the "shake test" before I took it down to shipping, those people hide all of the packing material when they see me coming their way.Enjoy-

I can see you now shaking a 48# box :eek:

george daniel · October 2005

Yeah,,workmans comp

polkatese · October 2005

Dodd MLP and Krell 400xi. I might check around another ss pre, big part of it because, as good as it sounds, the hum and noise (which I can still hear from 3ft away) bugged the **** out of me.

ND13 · October 2005

I got rid of 90% of the buzz/hum in the ELP with a better IC between the pre and amp. My MLP has just a slight buzz/hum and I have to be within a foot or so to notice it.

george daniel · October 2005

Guess I'm lucky so far,, no hum with my L-1, with two different amps, originaly had some with my ss pre, but I changed cable television outlets,and it went away

reeltrouble1 · October 2005

Dodd ELP and NAD 2700's bridged mono---slight hum

Dodd MLP and B&K 7270 hum so soft have to put ear to speaker

The hum you are hearing has to do with impedance matching. As said sometimes an IC can help. Of course wires dont matter!

Not even thinking about changing.

RT1

polkatese · October 2005

I tried 3 different sets of IC:
- Transparent MusicLink plus
- MIT Shotgun 3
- Signal Cable Analog 2 plus

MIT shotgun gives the loudest. Transparent and SCA are about the same, so I left it with Transparent. Rolled a different set of tubes, same result. So, it could be system synergy issue.

ND13 · October 2005

Believe it or not, the quietest ICs I've used between the ELP and the ASLs is the .5m Outlaws and the 1m Rat Shack Fusions. The loudest were the Copperheads.

I would have thought that the MITs would be your quietest, go figure :rolleyes:

Dennis Gardner · October 2005

ASL Mini Phono Preamp -Electro Harmonix(Russian) 12AX7or EI (Yugos) ECC82
Herbie's Halo 9 damping rings

Audio Experience MkII- Line Preamp with Sylvania 5y3GT (coke bottle shaped rectifier)
JJ Tesla 12AX7 driver(1) and outputs(2) or Sovteks
Herbie's Halo 9s damping rings

Saving for a Modwright SWL 9.0 SE preamp

Odyssey Stratos - SS amp 150WPC

I won't be going back to the HK Citation 23 SS Pre that I used prior. I love the Odyssey as William and I have already discussed ad nauseam since it gives me the power I need but opened mids and highs that tube amps are known for. 105db sustained from my SDA1Cs without a lick of strain, short passages of course.

madmax · October 2005

They still make SS amps???

madmax

BobMcG · October 2005

Using the DODD MLP with a pair of (SS) Hafler 9505s bridged with AQ Diamond ICs. Nice combination. No hum problem. Enjoying a new level of realism, even more detail, and improved sound stage over DLC pre. Still using two SS preamps and like them but the main 2ch rig will more than likely stay with a tubed pre from now on.
Looking forward this winter to swapping in the (SS) Counterpoint Solid 2 amp in place of the 9505s for a while and swapping out the modified 2.3s for the Carver Amazings for a while too.

ND13 · October 2005

Bob,

I just got my MLP the other day. What tubes are you using?

BobMcG · October 2005

ND13 wrote:

Bob,

I just got my MLP the other day. What tubes are you using?

The Sovtek 12AX7LPSs Gary sent it with.

ND13 · October 2005

I got mine from Hoosier so I'd have to guess that's what's still in mine. I haven't cracked the case yet to see.

audiobliss · October 2005

Aww, you mean you can't see the tubes in the MLP? phooey...

ND13 · October 2005

No but the MLP is like the ELP to the fourth power

organ · October 2005

I've tried an Antique Sound Lab AQ2004DT and a Golden Tube Audio SEP-1 with my NAD C270. Tried both on my Klipsch and Polk LSi. I WON'T be going back to SS pre's.

Going tubes all the way is the best if your speakers are very efficient. This is my favorite set up. IMO, going tube pre/ss amp will only give you half the tube sound. But with some speakers, tube/ss is the only way to go. This is what I use when I want to listen to the LSi9. But when I listen to Klipsch, it's tubes all the way.

Noel,
Don't forget the Tung Sol reissue 12AX7 when you're ready to roll. I spent a few days comparing this to the Sovtek LPS and the Tung Sol is superior. I thought the LPS was the best current production before hearing TS.

Maurice

organ · October 2005

audiobliss wrote:

Aww, you mean you can't see the tubes in the MLP? phooey...

I can't see the tube in my GTA also but it doesn't bother me at all. You don't have to see the glow to hear the magic from tubes :cool: .

Maurice

ohskigod · October 2005

ND13 wrote:

No but the MLP is like the ELP to the fourth power

yeah yeah, rub it in why dontcha

I run the ELP and a carver 4.0t amp. no way in hell I'm going back to solid state on the pre. any upgrade will be on a tube pre (maybe when Noel sells his)

just bought a house and car, so that will be FAR down the road.

ND13 · October 2005

It will have to be something very, very special for me to consider selling the MLP. I did really like that modded Cary that Mark had, that is now out in Cali at Beardog's. I just couldn't come up with the $1800 that Mark needed for it. I'd have to think that the MLP and the Cary are on the same plane, but maybe the mods in the Cary took it past it, I don't know. The Cary did have alot more belld and whistles. It does look as though that I'll be replacing the Parasound that I just got with one of the McAlister P150 tube amps from Canada. SComp and Normanality already haave theirs and are in audio nirvana. Madmax has his on order and I think that FredV is either getting the pre or amp, maybe both. SComp amd Norm have their pre on the way. I'll get my deposit in as soon as I get a couple of loose ends tied up.

Oh and Lou, the ELP isn't going anywhere either, it's still a world class entry pre, imho. I may not be very experienced with alot of different brands, but I'd have a hard time believing that there are any other sub $500 tube pres out there that can outperform it, and probably not too many under $1k.

ohskigod · October 2005

ND13 wrote:

I may not be very experienced with alot of different brands, but I'd have a hard time believing that there are any other sub $500 tube pres out there that can outperform it, and probably not too many under $1k.

I'll definitly be happy with the ELP for quite a while. It wasnt as warm as the Radii I had, but definitly more open and detailed, I know I would have to spend some serious cheddar to upgrade it.

Actually, nothing is really screaming for an upgrade in he 2 channel or theater, so I consider myself very fortunate in that regard.

RuSsMaN · October 2005

Word of caution re: McAllister amps, the EL50x tubes are VERY hard to find (decent NOS Sylvania). Buy that amp, you're pretty much stuck with Chinese grunt. The price is nice, and tubes with hats are hella cool - but I won't be buying one anytime soon.

You're better off spending more, and getting a couple push pull 6550 / KT88 / EL34 mono amps, or stereo amps that you can bridge. You'll end up with more tube options, better iron, and more likely than not, better sound.

55LS70 · October 2005

Several years ago I replaced my old Rotel preamp (a RC 870 I think) with a N.E.W. P-3 tube preamp. The amp I was using at the time was a Carver M-1. The improvement was nothing short of outstanding. Not only did I get more musical mids and highs, I got a soundstage. Even though the Rotel was a respectable, smooth sounding and accurate pre it had an annoying two dimensional and veiled quality about it A little tube rolling (I currently have a RCA 12BH7A grey plate and two RCA 12AU7A cleartops installed) netted further improvement. The N. E.W. P-3/Carver M-1 combo was a very good one and I probably should have stayed with that but I then moved on to tube power amps and currently have a Dynaco ST70 Series ll. Changing to the tube amp wasn't nearly the improvement the pre was. While the amp did enchanced mids, highs and soundstage I lost quite a bit of slam. Maybe sometime down the road I'll go with a pair of hard hitting mono blocks to regain the bass but I have to finish my 55 Chevy before I can pull the trigger.

From now on I'll probably never have a system without at least a couple of tubes in the signal chain. In my opinion, without tubes too much of the music is lost in the circuitry. Now maybe some of the uber solid state preamps (Krell, Mark Levinson and etc.) might be able to capture the sound I'm thinking of but their prices put them far out of my reach. Just my .02 cents.

Tube Preamplifier/ Solid State Power amplifier

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