2. amps-preamps
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Impressed with Tubes

For the first time, I auditioned a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 100s run through a Rogue Perseus tube preamp & a Rotel RB1080 S/S power amp. Prior to that, I have never auditioned a tube preamp. Wow! What a difference! A richer, more integrated sound with the Rogue Perseus compared to S/S alternatives. Now that I am hooked on tubes, a few quick questions:

(1) Would there be a significant difference if I went with a tube power amp as well?

(2) Compared to the Rogue Perseus, has anyone had any experience with the Rogue Metis preamp?

(3) Other recommendations for tube preamps?

I am having a ball doing research for a new 2-channel system. And listening to a tubed component for the first time was a real treat!

Thank you for any help!

Kit
kitjv
darkmoebius
900 posts
 
Solid state amp is a fairly good idea, check out the Stereophile measurements (impedance graph).

Other preamps you might also want to look int Modwright, BAT, Audio Research, K&K....
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Agree on SS for these speakers. How much are you willing to spend to upgrade from the Rotel?
twb2
129 posts
 
There are tube amps that do a great job with extremely difficult speaker loads (SoundLab electrostatics) such as Wolcott. Unfortunately these amps are not well known due to a lack of advertising. Furthermore, Wolcott amps are extremely easy to maintain, due to auto biasing. Henry Wolcott's patents have prevented other manufacturers from copying his circuits. I have a pair which are going on 8,000 hours with only two tube failures. In each case, a LED indicated which tube needed replacement. Simply a matter of inserting a new one. These amps do a superb job from bass to treble. I also own Halo JC-1's which do a great job, but I prefer tubes!
phaelon
1,052 posts
 
"Keep in mind that if you are investing in tube power, your investment dollar will be better served by a speaker that is 8 ohms or more (particularly in the woofer region) than a speaker that is 4 ohms."

Hi Atmasphere,
I've always understood this to be true of OTLs but how significant is the high impedance issue with push-pull or SET amps. This has always been a little confusing to me because it seems that while almost all speakers are classified as either 4 or 8 ohm, impedance charts can show quite a bit of fluctuation. I would like to try an OTL with my 8 ohm Mini Utopias but I believe they dip to 4 ohm and I don't know where.

Regards
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
I do have a tube amp (CAT JL2)that can handle low impedances, but it is expesnive and requires large transformers (the amp weighs 180 lbs!)and Atmasphere obviously uses a different approach. But nevertheless a higher impedance is always better for tubes and a smooth, linear impedance curve is important. I would think even a 4ohm nominal impedance would be ok, as long as the impedance curve was smooth, without large peaks and valleys at various frequencies - I think they call it impedance phase(?) or something. A discussion with your amp and speaker mfg always helps. I never understood much about the subject till Bobby at Merlin (speakers) explained some of this stuff to me and Atmaspheres contribution on the subject have always helped. The speaker in question seems to offer challenges to tube amps, even if they worked, they would "work" the tubes hard.
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