2. amps-preamps
  3. 180439-151312

Tube preamp options

My system from the preamp on consists of a rouge rp-7, rogue m180 monoblocks, and vandersteen quatro wood speakers. My main source is a brinkmann Bardo through a Rogers PA-2 phono pre. It all sounds great. But there's that itch, you know? I get tremendous soundstage but not that much depth. Clarity is great, mids are nice, bass is excellent. But it doesn't quite have that in the room sound that I'm looking for. The RP7 sounded too solid state and analytical for me out of the box with the stock JJ tubes so I've done extensive rolling. Been through all sorts of NOS tubes and landed on amperex as they seem to have the best balance of warmth and clarity. My thought is, maybe I can find a pre that has those attributes out of the gate without all the rolling. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being able to tailor the sound with trying different tubes but I feel like maybe there's a brand out there who's house sound I like better. I haven't listened to anything more yet but brands that are on the list to check out are Backert labs, maybe a used ARC Ref 6, VTL, VAC. There are a million little boutique brands tho and I'm asking what people have heard in the 10k price range, new or used, that might be a good fit for me and why. 

Thanks! 

rmdmoore
soix
9,456 posts
 

@soix my speakers are about 30"inches from the front wall. I spent a fair bit of time talking to John Rutan at Audio Connection about speaker placement. Like I said, my soundstage is wide and focused with nearly no toe in but very little depth

Is that 30” from the front of the speakers or the back?  My suggestion would be to try pulling the front of the speakers out at least 48” from the wall and see what happens.   My guess is you’ll hear much better depth and an overall improvement, and then keep experimenting from there.  The fronts of my speakers are about 6’ from the wall, just for reference.  There’s nothing about your system I can see that should limit depth other than speaker placement, FWIW. 

big_greg
6,623 posts
 

@big_greg would know, but I thought the Herron also is not balanced. 

If there was a want/need for fully balanced, I missed it. All of the Herron gear is single-ended.

oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,797 posts
 

Yes, do yourself a favor and steer clear of VTL.   More like VTHell....    worst customer service on the planet.   

wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 

Get a Schiit Freya + and cut through the fog of overpriced and often inferior preamps. Go Stereophile "Class A" and save thousands, or simply sink into the abyss of expectation bias...your choice.

fair
51 posts
 

If you love tube sound, you may consider using what professionals use:

https://www.thermionicculture.com/index.php/products/the-ultra-vulture-detail

Review of an earlier model:

 

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