Vacuum Tube Preamp for Solid State Power Amp Pairing


I’ve recently discovered the world of vacuum tubes and recently purchased a Willsenton R8 which I’m enjoying very much.

I also have a solid state Chord Electronics SPM 1050mkii power amp (200w into 8ohms) and am now curious what sound I could achieve by the marriage of a tube preamp paired with my beefy solid state power amp.

As I’m a tube newbie I figured it would be sensible to lean on the considerable experience of the Audiogon community and plunder some recommendations.

 I like the look of the PS Audio BHK signature Pre (preowned) but it’s pushing my budget, although if you guys think it’s a winner I can save a few more buttons..! Also I’m aware of the Shiit Freya + which seems well reviewed and appears to be a good value proposition, but apart from these 2, I’m not really sure what else is out there…

So, over to you guys to work your magic, recommendations please!

Budget is circa £2-£3k and MUST have a remote control! :)

terenthia

The sonic result of using a tube linestage feeding a solid state amp can be a little more unpredictable than solid state feeding solid state.  You should research impedance matching between linestages and amps.  The ideal electrical match would be a low output impedance of the linestage feeding a very high input impedance of the amp. Tube linestages tend to have higher output impedances and solid state amps tend to have lower input impedances meaning that there might be an electrical mismatch that will hurt the sound.  Supposedly, the input impedances of the amp should be at least ten times the output impedances of the linestage to avoid such mismatch.  But, even where there is no electrical mismatch, I have found that the sonic result of such a marriage is a bit unpredictable—a really good tube linestages may not sound very good with cerain solid state amps.

There are some practical considerations you should also consider.  Tube gear should not be left on all the time, while some people leave solid state gear on all of the time (solid state gear takes much longer to warm up and sound good which is why some keep it on).  If you intend on turning your tube linestage off or on while the amp remains on, you need to know if the linestage will emit loud noises while going through turn on and turn off.  If it does, you may be forced to turn off your amp each time you end a listening session and you turn off the linestage.

Post removed 

There's a lot more to consider also.

How many tubes, ease of tube biasing, type of tubes, tube rolling, new or nos...

Let's not make this too complicated. You don't bias preamp tubes. Tube rolling is not a requirement. In my fifty years I have never thought about electrical compatibility between a preamp and amp and had a problem. So, I would choose a preamp for its sonic appeal and just do a quick check on compatibility. 

 

Lot of folks like the PS audio and it is in a different league  than the Schiit.