Anthem Pre 2L SE: first tubes experience

holt

I had my Anthem Pre 2L SE that I recently purchased here waiting for me by the front door when I got home yesterday. Everything was as described from phipiper10, and it already had the Phillips 6922 tubes installed (originals were also included). I placed it where I had intended and the first bit of frustration encountered was that I hadn't realized my IC's weren't going to be long enough with its placement. Being that I really wanted to check it out to make sure that it was functioning after its UPS trip, I temporarily stacked the Marantz cdp on top to hear it before heading out to get longer ICs.
I first put a Dixie Chicks cd with their very bright vocals. I listened to a track or two and was not too overwhelmed at first, but realizing that I was listening to some bright stuff and I hadn't given it a chance to warm up, I went out to HHGregg to get some temporary ICs(terrible place, can't get out of there without someone trying to steer me all over the store to look at this or that in hopes they can land a sale - I did get a look at a Samsung 3D TV which left me pretty underwhelmed and firm in my convictions I would be waiting a long time for that technology).

When I got home and reconnected the warmed up Anthem where I had intended and popped in another cd.... that's when I started noticing things. I didn't revisted the Dixie Chicks, but instead, put in a Cousteau cd and noticed right away that the sound stage had moved out with more pronounced, but tame, bass. There was something else that took me awhile to grasp in words what was going on - the music seemed to become more liquid and airy. This became even more pronounced when I put in some classical music. I listened to a recording of Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; followed by Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust: Minuet of the Will o' the Wisps; followed by Holst's, The Planets: Neptue, the Mystic, and finally, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier: Act 3 with Lisa Casa soprano. At that point, I did not want to go to bed so I could get up for work the next day.... The music was warm and airy and had a very liquid quality - like it was flowing around me in waves rather than just hitting me in packets -I guess this is what is meant as having less grain? Obos, cellos, and violins were warm and I could hear the piano's hammer felt when a key was struck. I just wanted to sit there and listen for a long, long time...

Now, I have to get some better ICs... I have no idea what the other tubes may sound like that came with it, but I want to hang out with these Phillips for a bit. I am glad I went this route!

heiney9

It's called................SOUL..................tubes add soul

Glad you're enjoying them.

holt

heiney9 wrote: »

It's called................SOUL..................tubes add soul

Glad you're enjoying them.

That's it! You only need that one word to sum it up.... Now I understand!

tonyb

Congrats,glad your diggin' it so far. Tubes definately add soul,more air around the notes. Tubes have a way of saying...just park your **** right here for 6 hours,you won't be dissapointed. Makes you enjoy,or should I say value,good recorded music in ways that have been lost to the average listener. Enjoy.

vc69

Congrats on the new pre. I have heard good things about the 2L. Now you know what these guys are always pining about. There is nothing else quite like it.

phipiper10

Keep trying different CDs, you'll find different recordings impacted differently by the pre. VC69 - Let's be clear it's a "2L-SE" So it's even better than whatever you heard

In all seriousness I didn't find a big difference between the 2L and the SE version it was relatively small IMO.

Enjoy that pre!

doctor r

It's a condition refered to as "tubitis". Many times uncurable and progressive. Symptoms to be aware of include - looking for NOS tubes for rolling, watching for tube power amps to possibly aquire, contemplating what a tube CDP might add to the SOUL of the system, ect. PROCEED WITH DUE CAUTION! (It all happens so fast);)

george daniel

Tubes add Air and liquid,,, gimme' another cup,please.

holt

george daniel wrote: »

Tubes add Air and liquid,,, gimme' another cup,please.

Yeah, I just got in some major air time with Barber's, "Adagio for Strings" (a piece I previously dismissed as overly sentimental) and now I'm crawling around trying to find my spine again - too many warm and airy violins to handle this early in the morning! I can't imagine what the addition of more tube components would add to this sound, but then again, I never imagined what adding a tube pre would add (much less any pre since I was using my Pioneer as one).

I had looked at a few SS pres before pulling the trigger on phipiper10's Pre 2L SE, including the Parasound 2100 and another tube pre, the VTL 2.5, which was on Audiogon (heard very good things about it). The person I had bought the Proceed amp from had strongly suggested a used Citation 7.0... When I mentioned that I was thinking of going tubes, his response was that he felt SS was giving you "more" of the sound that the recording engineer intended and that tubes "colored" the sound too much and were a hassle to deal with anyway. Being that I feel sound is colored by everything - including the listening environment - I think its all a matter of what color you choose to add. For classical music at least, warm, liquid, and airy is certainly what the instruments intend.