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TRL Dude Dilemna

Based on all the high praise for the TRL Dude preamp here and other sites, I took a chance and bought one from a local A-goner to see if it could displace an Air Tight ATC-2 preamp currently in my system. The two amps I currently use are a McIntosh MC-402 and Viva 845 SET Monos. It turns out that the Dude is not compatible with either amps due to an impedance mismatch. So I only got to hear the Dude in a compromised performance mode.
I was not quite wanting to give up on the Dude yet given everyone else's enthusiasm about its performance. I am considering the Samson monos as a natural match. I can convince myself that the Samson's could be better than the MC402..My real issue is that I would have to give up the Vivas. Not sure I can make the leap that a solid state amp will satisfy me as much as those SET Vivas. Then there is the leap of faith that I cannot hear the Samsons with purchasing them....
Has anyone replaced their SET amp with Samsons and remained satisfied with the decision? My speakers are the Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3 which are about 90db efficient with an impedance 6.5 Ohms, +/- 0.75 Ohms 150Hz to 20kHz. Thanks for your input..
tellefsen
bugredmachine's avatar
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bugredmachine
431 posts
 
Someone mentioned Aesthetix gear. I spent a month auditioning a Janus $10k pre loaned to me just for play and it could not hold a candle to the Dude. Try as I might to give it every chance it was clean and clear but not 3 dimensional. And the bass could not even come close to the Dude.

I'll have to have Paul give me instructions to measure the voltage.
wilsynet's avatar
wilsynet
264 posts
 
Isn't this what a buffer is for? The Burson AB-160 may be worth trying.

Anyway, I'll echo what others have said: I'd get rid of the Dude sooner than I'd abandon SET amplifiers. Although to be fair, I don't know why a different pair of SET amplifiers with a higher impedance wouldn't do the trick.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,468 posts
 
The Aesthetix Atlas amp is special and compares very well to the best amps out there. The Dude is much better then the Aesthetix preamps I have heard in my system however.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi,
Pete, I returned the Dude exactly the way it was. While in my home jeff and I replaced your 6sn7(power supply) with a Slyvania version( even better we both thought) but then placed yours back in prior to repacking.Pete thanks again for the very generous loan.

Bill, we listened to the Dude over a period of 2 days,I think it was pretty warmed up by then.
The Dude is 'very fine'(it really did sing with the Fankensteins) as I said in my comparison post last week, it really responds to different tubes(we tried some Tungsols in the signal path also).I hope you have an opprotunity to hear the Coincident Statement Linestage one day in your system.
Best Regards,
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,468 posts
 
Charles1dad, I hope to do just that. The more I "play" with gear the more I realize that total system synergy is very, very important. Perhaps I should just fork out the $$ and get TRL tube amps! I would love to hear your system should the opportunity present itself in the future.
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