Suggestion for preamp - Spendor's & Cary

Newbee,

At the risk of getting totally of the gents original intention.....

I myself am definitely the last word when it come to high-end audio. I don't read all the articles form various stereo magazines. Therefor I don't know how to express all those wonderful phrases such as: It felt like there was a veil lifted, soundsatage, the decay, etc. I can listed to a system and notice that one pre is sweeter, or one pre has more bass. So I guess I'm not totally tone deaf :)

However I do have " friends in high places " if you will. I of course enjoy picking the minds of these folks. It is my understanding from various folks that tinker with the stuff that if, one uses the exact same components to build the board, power supply, capacitors, IC's etc. That 6922 is the most neutral sounding ( even cold and analytical of the tubes for a pre. Next in line ( of the most often tubes used is the 6sn7, and after that is close to a tie between 12ax7 ( just a bit cooler that the 12au7 ) That is why I suggested a 6922 tubed unit. But try a few in a blind test if your not convinced. ARC LS1500 ( or whatever ) against the SP16. Blue Circle also switch from a 6sn7 to a 6922. And I know the quicksilver pre's do employee both 6922 or 12ax7. I'm willing to be if you listened with a blind fold you will find in most cases the 6922 will have the coolest most analytical sound. Of course there will be exceptions. But a general rule of thumb will be the 6922. That is why I advised that something with a 6922 would be appropriate. I simply thought he would have a better chance the getting something that would " lift a veil " off the amp, if you will.

88

Kt88, Interesting comments. Did I somewhere say that you were wrong re your comments about 6922 based tube amps in general? I don't think so!

I have had an ARC (an SP10 and its partnered D115) for many years that uses 6922's/6dj8's. This has created a long term interest in ARC products including their amps and much hands on tube experimentation. I was also aware of their SP8 which used some 12AX's and the SP16 which has gone back to using 12AX's. Did I not say that many folks would consider ARC's to be cool in tone...? Did I not recommend ARC as a possible choice that would work for him?

What I did say, and apparently this is what offended you, was to keep an open mind re tube type, once again refering to an ARC tube pre-amp. Apart from the ARC SP16 and SP8, I happen to have another non ARC Line stage which uses 2 12AU7's and one 12AX7 and can sound, tonally, almost identical to my ARC (depending on the tube selection I make).

So your friends are right, you are right, but in my mind its never wrong to keep an open mind regarding other possibilities.

More importantly perhaps, if you have personally experienced 'other possibilities' then shouldn't you pass them on to folks who need the information? At least thats how I operate. Sorry if this offended you.

In the future I will recall your declaration that "you are definitely the last word when it comes to audio" and I'll act more deferential. :-)

Newbee

LOL!! Actually the line should have been written " I myself am definitely NOT NOT NOT the last word when it comes to high-end audio "

I am not offended in your post all at. Just having a casual voice of opinion. Yes it is good to keep an open mind about things. My only point was to steer the gent to what would open up the system the most.

88

Thanks to both of you Gentlemen for the advice. I will look into the reviews of the brands you have suggested.

For a moment I thought I was getting direction from the allmighty himself - Newbee, you shouldn't have corrected yourself. I was quite impressed. :)

Late post. The Spendors, all big Spendors, devour power. The more quality tube power you can feed them the better. Forget their power rating, feed them plenty. Things just get better. I would look at some strong monblocs and stick with tubes. Spendor and great tube gear is one the best sounds out there, no doubt. You just need to power them up to have them shine.