2. amps-preamps
  3. 179727-145450

Line Magnetic 805ia vs high end seperates

I really love my Line Magnetic except for a few items, I use it in a HT and use it’s bypass and I really don’t like having it run when watching movies, those are some high dollar tubes to watch burn away. The other is that it runs HOT, not bad in the winter but gets a bit much in the summer as the summers are hot here.

I’ve thought about putting some on-wall speakers for HT use and just run it all thru my Lexicon AVR and having the LM be used for only music but then I also have been upgrading my system and would like to maybe sell the LM and buy a much nicer preamp.

I have a Digital Audio Company Cherry 2 channel class D amp that has been sitting for some time and it’s a gem of an amp. So I thought of maybe selling the LM and buying an older Conrad Johnson tube pre (ACT2, ET5, have always wanted one) or something else in the $3-5k range, and use the cherry amp. I could keep the tube sound with the preamp. My speakers are an easy drive (Tannoy Arden GR), so in the next few years, I would then upgrade to SET monoblocks if I wanted to upgrade beyond the class D amp.

I am just wondering if going in that direction would really give me a better sound. It would help in the HT bypass department in not burning thru 300b and 805 tubes and would run cooler but would it ultimately sound much better?

blkwrxwgn
holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

My preamp has an AVR bypass so when it is off the AVR channel goes straight through.
If two channel is only a few times a week, then you manually swap cables, say at the amp? Not ideal, but it might be possible.

2psyop's avatar
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2psyop
1,558 posts
 

I would not sell the LM Audio. It’s a great unit. I would keep it and get a tube preamp to try the new setup. See if you like it after awhile. I noticed that my LM Audio 216i (push/pull) got a little hot. I built a small wooden open enclosure, like a small table and it fits over top of the amp, I cut 2 squares in the top about 4 inches by 4 inches and placed two quiet fans inside which draw air and heat away from the tubes. If you look at my system with the Tekton speakers you can see it. Good luck.

carlsbad's avatar
carlsbad
1,551 posts
 

I use my tube amp for HT.  Love it.  I don't worry about the cost of the tubes.  

I live near the beach and don't have air conditioning.  So in the summer, a high heat amp isn't for me.  I have an Ayon with 4x 6c33C, about 400 watts of heat.  Had to replace it.  So now I have a Decware zma.  170 watts or so. 

BTW, you don't need an HT bypass on your amp if you have a preamp.  I turn my ZMA all the way up and it becomes an amp with multiple inputs and each one is equivalent to "HT bypass".  For HT, the HT reciever is the preamp. for music my DAC functions as the preamp.

There are a lot of upgrade opportunities from the LM.  There is a nice sophia that was just listed on another site (it won't last long). 

Jerry

blkwrxwgn OP
240 posts
 

805 and 300b tubes are a bit expensive for HT use......

I also ask this because I have a set of Joseph Audio speakers too that the LM doesn't push hard enough.

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