Going Tubing

Thanks again for all insights.

The Schiit Freya + certainly sounds interesting, and has been recommended by at least a couple of people in this thread.

What is this knowledgeable group’s opinion of the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premiere and the PrimaLuna Evo 300 preamps?

Thanks for these responses!

My speakers are GoldenEar One.R:s. Sensitivity is pretty solid at 92 dB, and they have built-in subs so I would assume a need to push a great deal of power to them wouldn’t be necessary. Thus a - typically - lower power tube amp (compared to ss amps) may be sufficient, and not too much a concern/consideration.

Starting off with a tube preamp seems to make sense, though. I am eying the Black Ice Fusion F360, not least because of its rather intriguing sound field “enhancing” feature, designed by Jim Fosgate.

Many thanks to the many answers and insights shared. There’s a lot to distill and there are of course one hundred and one different directions one can go, based on integrated vs. separates, what matches/is able to drive my GE One.R:s and, not least, budget.

I currently have the Emotiva Xda-3 preamp and the Emotiva XPA-DR2 power amp.

From what I have been able to gather so far, it may make sense to stick with the power amp (550 watts RMS into 8 Ohms, at <0.1% THD. 800 watts RMS into 4 Ohms at <0.1% THD) as then I don’t have to worry about matching the tube amp to my speakers (nor needing the tube power amp budget…) but to shoot for a tube preamp. It’ll be fed, as is the Xda-3 today, from a Rega P8 with a MC through a Vincent PHO-701 hybrid phono pre and by a Cambridge Audio CXN 100 network streamer/dac.

So I need at least two inputs, preferably at least one being balanced (from the CXN), preferably 1-2 more.

I would say my tube preamp budget is $2000 (+/-), and I don’t mind a used one if it’s in great shape and good value.

Suggestions for which preamp with nice price/performance and feeling the ss power amp would be much appreciated, given the above aspects I need to consider.

Thanks!

Thanks again for all the advice and recommendations. This truly is a very engaged and knowledgeable audiophile community!

So, I ended up heeding this thread’s frequent advice to start off with a tube pre-amp and found a used PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premium pre-amp in great shape that I hope will serve me well.

This way I am keeping my Emotiva XDA-2 differential power amp and thus don’t have to worry about matching a tube (power/integrated) amp with my GE One.R speakers, etc., yet still allows me to play around with the (gain) tubes on the pre-amp if or as I so choose.

Thanks again for all insights and advice.

They are GoldenEar One.Rs