I have dedicated audio room 14.5x20.5x9 ft. Currently have Marantz Reference CD/Intergrated paired to Magnepan 1.7's with REL T-7 subs. For the vast majority of music I love this system. The only nit pick is that it is lacking/limited in covering say below 35 hz or so. For the first time actually buzzed the panel with an organ sacd. Bummer. Thought of upgrading subs to rythmicks but then I will need to high pass the 1.7's. Really don't want to deal with that approach.
Enter the Double Impacts. Many interesting things here. Would certainly have a different set of strengths here. Dynamics, claimed bottom octave coverage in one package, suspect a good match to current electronics.
I've read all the threads here so we do not need to rehash that. Just wondering if others out there have FIRST HAND experience with these or other Tekton speakers
I agree -- I think I would really enjoy that aspect of the job too. Now I just need to find your counterpart for HT.
Problem is that I don'\t even know if "boutique" players exist for processors because of the complexity, various licensing for different multi-channel playback, etc. There may be some for multi channel amps but the processors are (IMO) a tough product for a one person setup to do the R&D on and stay current.
Oh come on now, nothing teajay stated was an affront to grannyring; and I consider grannyring a magnificent knowledgeable poster, among the absolute best on Audiogon. Plus, I have purchased several of grannyring's superb power cable builds. I also think that between grannyring, teajay, charles1dad, and dare I say myself, the way we hear and what we like in recorded music is closely aligned. The nitpicks that differentiate us is interesting and worthy of discussion. I personally applaud the gentlemanly banter and appreciate the knowledge gained from it. The conversation has been respectful beneficial to all reading this excellent thread. Best, mikirob
I'm always very mindful on my posts to be very respectful towards other GON members and never put things on a personal level. I'm blunt and clearly give my opinion and at times disagree with some one's viewpoint, but do not attack the person. So, were does your hyper-sensitivity come from stating my response to granny's take on the DI's was, "slightly over the top"? What do you base this on?
Of course the bottom line is that everything in audio is based on personal taste to begin with, than you try to add on objectivity based on experience and comparing different gear to each other. Here's a question for you? Have you heard with your own ears both the DI's and the AZ speakers in order to make sense of what grannyring and I slightly disagree on? If so, please share what your take is on this matter. I still think he's confusing utter transparency with a forward sound compared with his AZ's slightly warm/full presentation.
Thanks for your kind words and disagreeing with jetter's comment about my post. The only reason I share and love to post here is that we all act like gentleman and have fun sharing and at times disagreeing with each other with no malice at all.
I've been sitting on a fence post recently contemplating selling my DeVore 0/96s, Tekton Lore, Tekton M-Lore, keep my Harbeth SHL5 and take the plunge on one of the DIs with upgrades. Or, take the plunge on one of the Ulfs. I already own a LTA Mz2. Plus, Aric's KT88 might also be a great sounding cost effective measure to make beautiful music with Tekton. I'm always on the hunt for "best bang for buck" audio and designers like Eric and Aric provide ample opportunity to accomplish that goal. I suppose I'll be standing on this fence post awhile longer. Looking forward to the further comments. Best, mikirob
You,I and possibly others may be a little crazy for loving our old technology SET and SEP amps but here is my take on this.
Eighty years later, vacuum tubes, and especially triodes, continue to be the lowest distortion amplifying elements ever made. No germanium or silicon transistor, JFET, Mosfet or Sit has ever approached the distortion performance of the direct-heated triodes, with indirect-heated triodes following closely behind. In addition to low distortion in the absolute sense, the distortion spectra of triodes is favorable, with a rapid fall-off of the upper harmonics. (This is less true for beam tetrodes, pentodes, or solid-state devices, which are intrinsically less linear and have higher-order distortion curves.)
This performance is with a Set amp running in their sweet spot of output which is 20 to 30% of that particular amps output pwr as a general rule for the very best sound.
This is were the best purity of sound "May" come from for folks that like these kind of Amps.
Even though I enjoy all kinds of different amps,including a Lyngdorf 2170 which I will get in about a week to try,my ears always have lead me back to certain kinds of Set amps.There is just a magical engaging sound that no other topology can quite match.
I have recently found that I like the JJ 2a3-40 new production single plate tube vs several brands of nos dual plate 2a3's,even more natural,organic,level of purity.
When it comes to solid state amps,my FW sit2 push pull and the F7 are the closet and best sounding SS amps that I have owned or ever heard yet.
So in about a week or so I will be able to directly compare my new Aric audio 2a3 set that makes 8 watts vs the 2170 in my system.
If I keep the 2170 for my main system I will use all tube gear in my man cave smaller system.
Again this is a highly personal and subjective subject and there is no right or wrong just different flavors of that coffee available to us Individually for our enjoyment of music,that we love,playback in our homes.
I greatly appreciate the maturity level on this thread and I personally learn and gain knowledge from all the different opinions even though I may not always agree either.
Terry, you may be correct regarding utter transpancy, at least in part. I found the instruments and voices all clear, clean, and so close I could reach out and touch them. Sometimes all of this impact was all on the same sound plane. All of this marvelous resolution and bass impact was just a tad too stark for me. The recodings were put out before me in a stark way compared to Harbeth, Crescendos, and other speakers I have owned. Hope you understand that. Again, a personal thing. Yes, I notice you Tekton and now I want some privacy is how I felt at times. Other times I was having a ball tapping my feet and rocking my head.
It is, in my estimation, part of the DI speaker’s sound and personality. Sure, different gear upfront will add, subtract, tame or heighten the inherent personality of a speaker. However, based on my experience, a speaker will not completely stop being what it fundamentally is with gear and wire changes
I don’t like my gear too fast. I know this flies in the face of what many like and shoot for. The Crescendo lingers longer on notes and rolls along in a more romantic way. This is not just a reflection of the gear I front of them. Is this accurate? Who knows. I like it. They have this personality relative to the DI speakers. The Crescendos are not slow at all, but relative to the DIs they may be. Too much speed and resolution makes me nervous at times. 😊
The very name of the speaker implies exactly what the builder was after and designed for. He succeeded in a big way. This speaker has impact from head to toe and it does not go unnoticed. More impact. More.
I still need to hear them in my room with my gear to really know how they play on home field.
@david_ten The JRiver files were ripped as .wav files and they are sent over to the Mx151 on HDMI as PCM files. So the DAC in the MX151 is the one doing the Digital to Analog. I had jRiver upsampling everything to 64Bit 192KHZ. We actually turned it off and played regular .wav files and some mp3, with no upsampling, but there was no difference in sound . The MX151 does not and will not play a pure unadulterated analog signal without doing an A to D conversion. This is because of Roomperfect. @teajay i feel that the MX151 is Musical and one reviewer said that it was lush sounding.I do not think it is overly warm or colored like some pres might be. Also it may not be as musical as some dedicated 2 channel pres, obviously.,but i would not say that it is not musical. What does Musical mean to you ? I had the Mx121 and thought it was not nearly as good . What other equipment and did you have with it .
I have a very strong assumption that your taste and mine are very similar in what we want our systems to sound like. Of course I want micro-details and an accurate rendering of the leading edge of the note, but not so sharp it cuts my ears, and I want the full body of the harmonic with natural color/timbres. My Cello's provided that to a wonderful degree and I have found your Crescendo's to have the same overall signature that's why they are one of my favorite speakers.
However, both speakers compared to the DI's and the Ulf's do not have the same speed/aliveness/prat that the Tekton's offer. When you shared how you were "tapping my feet & rocking my head" I found this harder and harder to do when I went back to my Cello's regardless with what I was driving them with. Now, here's were personal taste and synergy come in, I find it hard to imagine what the DI's would sound like with just OK solid state dacs (Benchmark) or solid state amps (Bryston) driving them. It would be a very unpleasant experience for me. The polar opposite would be driving either the Cello/Crescendo with overly warm, euphonic, old school tube gear, boy would that sound rotten because of their inherent warm/fullness would turn to slow and muddy.
I wish you could come to my home and hear the DI's/Ulf's with plenty of breathing room being driven with great NOS tubed SET amps, preamp, and DAC. You would then hear all the body and the lingering decays of the notes with that easy liquidity/flow, you won't feel rushed at all, that you experience with the AZ's plus the "aliveness" and kick that is lacking in both the Cello/Crescendo presentation of the music. As I stated above, I really wanted to keep my beloved Cello's of five years in the reference chair in my system, but the DI's matched all their beautiful tonality and warmth, with the right electronics, and the Cello's sounded kinda dead/wimpy regarding the dynamics/PRAT of the music, along with the DI's pulling a better disappearing act/sound-staging.
I just want to say that I do not think the DIs or McIntosh or Purist Audio is forward sounding.I think there is more of an immediacy, live , in the room with you ,sound from the DIs and the Rogue St-100 When i was using the Purist usb and purist digital, with the Mcintosh, I thought that the sound was a little too distant. Although once I changed to the HDMI, things did sound more forward. I think it has to do with the cheap HDMI i am using. ?? I was probably turning it up too loud for Bill, as he was in the Sweet spot and i was not. I think that also may have contributed to his feeling of a forward sound.
I heard your MX151 in the context of total McIntosh system driving Sonus Faber speakers in a well set up room. To be frank, I'm not a fan of McIntosh gear and find their tube amps kinda grainy and not very refined sounding. Therefore, I did not hear your piece in isolation, but as a part of this total system.
Musicality to me is a very subjective term trying to convey that the overall timbres/colors, the 3D imaging of real instruments in space, and lastly that you can relax and emotionally relate to the music as it flows into your room is present when listening to a system. I do not get this experience with McIntosh preamps/amps, regardless of what speakers I have heard their gear with.
@grey9hound Thank you for the specifics. It's good to understand the front ends of our systems. I'm working on some changes and knowing what's being used and the resulting impressions is helpful.
It's also terrific that you opened up your home and system to Bill.
Dennis, I hope you meant the above mostly in jest....
I know it's difficult to work through the words and the back and forth in these forums. I don't believe Terry means anything negative, if you interpret it as such...I see it as sharing a perspective and where he's coming from ---- just as you are with a system you love and enjoy.
In fact, when things get direct and are put in stark relief as happens from time to time...I find the posts during those periods most informative.
I'm a fan of the ST100 and would love to hear your system as much as I would like to hear Terry's in person.
McIntosh always surprises me that they are still a going concern at their excessive price point considering how they sound to me at various times that I've heard them setup over the years. I think it's well made and very attractive gear, but I wouldn't own it based on their sound quality and my own preferences of what I like to hear.
I would not describe my position as a "hater" of McIntosh gear. I have tried for at least twenty years to understand why listeners liked this brands house sound because I never got it. Many of my friends had McIntosh amplifiers driving Maggies, Thiels, B&Ws, Vandys, and virtually all them left this brand for either great SS like Pass Labs or other tube based gear from other companies.
Just like I never liked the house sound of Wilson speakers, which finally got rid of that lousy tweeter and replaced it with a silk dome in all their models, Magico, Y&G Acoustic these brands never appealed to how I experience music in the real world. Does this make me a "hater" I don't think so, but a listener who clearly knows his personal taste of likes and dislikes. And if you do not care for the brands that I find quite wonderful I would not label you a "hater" but someone with very a different sense of taste from mine.
I had talked to Aric earlier today and he shared that you had gotten the custom SET 2A3 amplifier you had him build for you. Please, when you have even a cursory take on it, let us know what you think! If your custom SET 2A3 amp lives up to what I'm hearing with Aric's amp in my house you should be in for a real treat!
Reading teajay’s critique of McIntosh the last impression that I would perceive is that he’s a "hater". He was genuinely describing his listening experience with this brand. Interestingly I share very similar impressions having heard all McIntosh systems on several occasions.
Do I "hate" their products? Of course not! I simply prefer other alternatives more. We all listen to components/speakers and choose what we like best. Taste is all over the sonic map as one would expect given the pure subjective nature of it all.
There is no reason to be thin skinned in this wonderful endeavor, trust your ears and go where they lead you. There’ll always be people who share your taste and those who do not. This is what makes this such a fun passion and results in the sharing of excellent insights and perspective. This thread is proof of this concept.
Hi Kenny, Given your vast listening experiences and ownership of many terrific amplifiers past and present I’m looking forward to reading your opinion on the Lyngdorf 2170. Curious to see how it compares and contrasts with the Aric 2A3 SET, LTA ZOTL 40 and the First Watt S.I.T.push pull amplifiers. Should be much fun for certain. Charles
@teajay@grannyring - Preparing for the purchase of some room treatments has me studying up on room acoustics. This youtube video addressed the role electronics, speakers and acoustics play in the sound we perceive. I found it informative. Yes, still a relative noob.
Long story short - Acoustics play the major role, followed by speakers then electronics. Bad acoustics can totally destroy the detail and resolution you were hoping to get out of that expensive dac. "All the recording engineers, whose music we are listening to, are listening to speakers that were carefully placed in a room and equalized. Good enough for them who do this for a living, should be good enough for you, as long as you use a good quality equalizer."-Anthony Grimani, MSR Acoustics, President
Personally, I've never heard room correction not improve a room, but that was with sparsely treated rooms. What I've never heard is a well treated room, with full tube electronics compared with and without room correction.
The new sound I got from the Raven Blackhawk came through my Gallo 3.1s beautifully. No class D like digital nasties or listening fatigue, and far greater texture and tone all while running correction. I'm still open to the existence of artifacts of correction, especially when there are 30dB untreated room mode swings.
A crazy looking wideband filter to perfectly counter untreated room effects requires unlimited taps and digital filter coefficients. Think infinite fourier series. In addition the cost function balances phase and magnitude response (digital mixed phase FIR filter from Live Dirac ), so phase corrections can still come at a price of frequency response ripple or vice versa.
I read somewhere that room corrected tone/timbre, presence and the overall naturallness of sound dramatically improves once treatments were employed. This makes sense to me given the limited resolution of even the best room correction.
Fixing the number of coefficients allowed, a transfer function curve fit is orders of magnitude more accurate if the target curve is smoother or better behaved (treated room).
Live Dirac only cost $400, makes the most dramatic positive changes of any one component I've experienced. I'll turn it off if ever I don't like it.
Like others here I learn much from the discussions here and find listeners disagreements regarding components sound quite enlightening as it helps me to fully understand my listening preferences and how to achieve the sound I prefer. I would hope ones dislike of a product wouldn't be taken personally, it's just ones preference......just like I wouldn't take it personally if someone didn't like the lime green shirt I'm wearing ( no matter how hideous it most like is!). As long as I like it's all good!
This audio journey is quite interesting. I can't tell you how many times I thought I had the most amazing piece of equipment only to hear something else that put it to shame. Charles' Frankensteins certainly come to mind, I didn't realize the sound I had could be improved so much. Now I enjoy what I have to the fullest while keeping an open mind as to how to possibly improve it. Having said that I hope my upcoming purchases of a new cd transport, DAC and amp will suit me for quite a while, my pocketbook needs a break! :)
brotw, you may consider yourself a noob but IMO you're well ahead of the curve by addressing the rooms acoustics. Jim Smiths book "Getting Better Sound" helped me understand the importance of proper room treatment. I'm still learning how to properly treat my room but can confidently say that building a dedicated listening room with bass traps, quadratic diffusers and absorption treatments was the best audio investment I've ever made. When I had the the DI's in my living room they sounded great to me but I heard much more of what they are really capable of when properly positioning them into my dedicated listening room......of course it's much easier placing room treatments in a room the wife doesn't care about ;)
thanks to all for your contributions here, Tom
ps......welcome Aric. Can't wait to place your amp in my system and look forward to you insights here.
You,I and possibly others may be a little crazy for loving our old technology SET and SEP amps but here is my take on this.
Kenny, we are definitely not crazy, but I do like to self-deprecate so I can make my point in a less a offensive way.
One way to begin a non offensive post, but still make your point.
Step 1: "It’s not you, it’s me...open with some non threatening self-deprecation." ie: "Maybe I’m mistaken, wrong, and clearly insane, but I believe I’m right about XYZ"
Now that’s just step 1, there are more steps, but I don’t like giving out trade secrets or boring people with diatribes as I get older, but step one is like getting your foot in the door of a person’s mind and tends to keep it open. Comedians self-deprecate to woo their audience all the time. LOL
the distortion spectra of triodes is favorable, with a rapid fall-off of the upper harmonics.
(This is less true for beam tetrodes, pentodes, or solid-state devices, which are intrinsically less linear and have higher-order distortion curves.)
Ditto, couldn’t say it better if I wanted to.
This performance is with a Set amp running in their sweet spot of output which is 20 to 30% of that particular amps output pwr as a general rule for the very best sound.
This is were the best purity of sound "May" come from for folks that like these kind of Amps.
Again, spot on.
Again this is a highly personal and subjective subject and there is no right or wrong just different flavors of that coffee available to us Individually for our enjoyment of music,that we love,playback in our homes.
This^ is the final step in my guide of how to write non offensive posts and still have an opinion. LOL
I call it Final Step: "Opinions are like assholes, so acknowledge other people’s if you want them to acknowledge yours!" LOL
Looks like you’re playing with a full deck to me, definitely not crazy at all. I will only add that when I learned that amplifying the entire sine wave continuously in class A without decimating the signal and introducing cross-over distortion via the use of a phase splitter in a push-pull topology was like an "Ah Hah" moment for me being very interested in the simplicity and purity of the SET circuit design.
I equivocate it to my "Humpty Dumpty" analogy. Sure you can separate phase and antiphase, but putting it back together again isn’t without some degradation or the introduction of crossover distortion. In other words Humpty Dumpty can be glued back together again, but ends up looking like a mosaic puzzle with cracks and fractures and is now nothing more than a shell of his former self. (+5 Word Play Points).
@teajay , @david_ten , @grannyring , @kdude66 , @mikirob , @jcarcopo, @grey9hound : Thank you for your valuable posts! Can you please post pictures of your systems in Audiogon’s Virtual System pages? ..... "A picture is worth a thousand words"
@charles1dad , @mac48025: Thanks for posting pictures of your systems. I can almost "hear" what your systems sound like by looking at your gear, your room and how you have it set-up.
Kdude, very interested in your take on the Lyngdorf. Everything I have read points to it being a pretty amazing piece. If I could get rid of a big stack of components and replace with a 20lb integrated with no loss of sound quality and the benefit of room correction that would be the cats ass!
Personally, I appreciate reading the thoughts that others have when I know they have well-trained ears for music and present their thoughts in an open-ended manner. We are all individuals that have different tasts in types of music and what we hear within that room. Thank you grannyring for posting your thoughts, comparisons, and examples of the Tekton Double Impact speakers, and to many other individuals that also contribute to our education.
I have tried, but the handshake between Audiogon and Google Photos hasn’t been working for me, at least on my system. It’s the application that Audiogon uses, and Google or my security settings don’t care for it.
I’ve refrained from using a photo sharing site, but maybe it is time to do so.
If you or others have any thoughts on alternatives, especially easy ones, please share.
Your post is motivating. At a minimum, I can list the system components.
Jcarcopo, Great looking system and room. That amp is beautiful, I could be happy just looking at it! What color are your DI's? Looks like a satin color. I like it.
Like good coffee, Tekton speakers can produce a product that is warm and liquid with just a touch of subtle zing. But I would never want to endanger its connection wiith the LDS community. lol.
@jcarcopo - Very cool and thanks! Any reason you went with bi-wires on your DIs?
@david_ten - I just upload my pictures to Audiogon. It seems to work well. Yeah, even just listing your system components would be helpful. We've got so many people contributing to this thread it's hard to keep everyone's systems straight.
@mac48025 - Thanks for the kind words. Eric picked the color and finish because I asked him to after being an indecisive pain in his ass for 2 weeks, LOL! I forget the Pantone number for the color. I tried to find it on Pantone's website to see if I could jog my memory, but they have so many colors so it's very hard. I think it's Pantone 180c, but that's a guess. Regarding the Diavolo, I know right! An absolute gorgeous amplifier just to stare at while listening to. It's actually my 2nd Diavolo amplifier from Art Audio.
I couldn't find one used when I was in the market a year ago so I bought a discounted demo Diavolo unit from Tom Willis directly at Art Audio for about what I could get for a kidney.
They can be found for around $4k-$5k used if you see one on Audiogon/Audiomart/HifiShark. They are totally worth the money. They are reliable workhorses that check all the boxes for me sonically and it ended my search for "something better".
@sbayne - Thanks, I already had the Big Silver Oval cables from a previous system and figured 10awg of overkill speaker cables dedicated for the highs and 10awg dedicated for the lows would lower the resistance just enough to make me sleep better knowing that I'm getting every ounce of wattage out of the SET amp as humanly possible. LOL Seriously, it's for peace of mind. I don't worry about cables anymore. I just think they are pretty cables, add some bling, and unlike many expensive cables that act as a tone control, they are very neutral sounding. Bigger is better, right? LOL, I don't belief in bi-wire cables for audible reasons based on anything I've perceived in listening tests, but doubling the amount of cable going to the speaker can't hurt and only reduces resistance, even if it's just a rounding error. LOL, I realize a SET amplifier doesn't need 2x 10awg cables to carry 8w-13w of power so your question is not lost on me. LOL
@jcarcopo - ha,ha now I understand the double runs of Big Silver Oval! +1 on the Art Audio amp. Thanks again for posting the pictures it just makes it easier to understand someone's perspective when you actually see their set-up.
@sbayne - 😂 no worries. I’m glad you motivated me to finally post my system. I checked yours out too. You have a sweet setup too and I have no doubts it sounds wonderful as well. Do you have enough tweaks yet? Lol 😂
Hi Jacarcopo, Thanks for taking the time to post pictures of your audio system. I can easily imagine the beautiful sound of music that surely fills your listening space. Your Art Audio amplifier is a visual treat. Charles
Sbayne, I have no doubt that your current system brings you much joy. I however must confess that I really adored your former Shindo based system and would have loved to have heard it. Do you feel your current system surpasses the Shindo presentation? Maybe it all the Art Dudley reviews I've read but I get the impression that Shindo gets to the essence of music's beautyand emotion. Charles
@charles1dad - no my current system doesn’t surpass the Shindo system I had built. My current preamp and turntable are very good but are not in the same league, frankly. Shindo presents a very real tone and soundstage that I haven’t heard with other equipment. My favorite Shindo preamp I owned cost more than my entire current system. Crazy! I would rather listen to, support and get to know excellent local musicians with my money than buy a $15k preamp again! Anyway, today, I love finding value in stereo equipment and that’s why I like the new Tekton speakers so much!
@charles1dad - You're quite welcome! Thanks for the kind words. I think it's a very neutral sounding system and not as warm sounding as my original Diavolo SET + Von Schweikert VR2s setup and it lacks a tad of added 3D dimensionality that Von Schweikert is known for. I'd love to tweak or upgrade something to get that added effect back. I love the Benchmark HGC for the money and the fact it doubles as my preamp which keeps the signal path shorter and hopefully purer. I am curious if a better dac or tube preamp wouldn't be one of my next moves, but I'm afraid I might muck things up or lose detail introducing a tube preamp or add too much euphonics to the sound. I love tubes so much and a tad more warmth wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but I'm afraid it might get tiring to listen too. Decisions, decisions...
Sbayne, I know what you mean by supporting local musicians. Each time I attend a performance I'd like to believe that the money spent contributes to their continued survival. I have such enormous admiration for their talent and mastery of their respective instruments. Also to be truthful it evokes the "man wish I could play like that" response every time 😊. At the core of it all I'm just a music loving guy. Charles
Hi Jcarcopo, I am also an advocate of the "keep it simple " philosophical approach when it comes to components and the audio signal pathway. So I admit the contradiction in preferring the inclusion of a high quality tube preamplifier. Despite adding active circuitry to the pathway, they just give more than they remove in my listening experiences.
This is only my opinion and Lord knows that this topic has been covered ad nauseum 😊. I find myself firmly planted in the active preamplifier camp. Charles
@charles1dad - "So I admit the contradiction in preferring the inclusion of a high quality tube preamplifier. Despite adding active circuitry to the pathway, they just give more than they remove in my listening experiences. "
+1. Totally agree.
"I know what you mean by supporting local musicians. Each time I attend a performance I'd like to believe that the money spent contributes to their continued survival. I have such enormous admiration for their talent and mastery of their respective instruments. Also to be truthful it evokes the "man wish I could play like that" response every time 😊. At the core of it all I'm just a music loving guy. "
@charles1dad - Great, now I need a tube preamplifier. 😂 The Vinnie Rossi LIO DHT, possibly with their DAC2 upgrade makes me salivate, but I'm out of kidneys to sell. It's simply out of my reach. In your opinion, what's a decent tube preamplifier for the money? Anything out there that offers the bang for buck performance of the DIs in a preamplifier? My audio budget is exhausted at the moment from the hit I took recently on an investment I made and my recently built system set me back a lot, but at least I can start setting funds aside for a preamp. We have similiar tastes, so what's your suggestion?
Jcarcopo, Do you have a particular budget range? Yes, based on reading your posts over a period of time I do believe that we have very similar listening dispositions. It seems we both appreciate the "natural" or organic sound of good tube components but avoid the gratuitous artificial warmth coloration of lesser tube designs. There is a hierarchy in the tube equipment universe. Charles
@charles1dad Yes, we’re on the same page sonically. The thing is I only have 1 actual source and it’s my Benchmark DAC2 HGC which does have 2 digital sources connected via USB and Toslink. So what I need is a simple tube preamp that buffers the only source I would be connecting it to. Incidentally the HGC model of Benchmark DAC2 is a real preamplifier with 4 analog and 4 digital inputs plus a motorized alps volume control with remote. Of course it’s op-amp based and I’d prefer it to be tubed based. I didn’t want to give the impression that I’m strictly running source direct with no active preamp, it’s just that it’s embedded in the DAC2 HGC and lacking any valves to buffer the output to my Diavolo. I could see budgeting a couple of grand or maybe more $ over time.
I think the MZ2 would be a great choice, but then I'm biased! The only problem I would see with the MZ2 in Jcarcopo's system is that it's not purdy enough to be next to his Diavolo amp :) I will say that I think the MZ2 looks much nicer with the new silver front option.
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