2. amps-preamps
  3. 1334189112

what is a good tube pre amp out there...........

i have and love the conrad johnson tube sound. i have a pv10 and pv12, both sound fantastic. but how do i know if its the best if i have never tried any thing else. my associate equipment is: alon 4 speakers on the 12 and axiom m80's on the other, cj 2300a and 2500a power amps, rotel 975 and nad 545eee cd players, interconnect are tara labs vector 1 on both. audioquest speaker wire on the 10 and some home mades from axiom speaker co on the other. i heard about vtl, bat and others, please give me the pro's and con's of each you feel is best. also some fyi on proper amp/pre matching that im just learning about. thank s in advance.
kennesawjet
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
Kennesawjet understandable and fun to do and if you buy used and don't like it you can always flip it. I am using a Cary SLI-80F1 integrated and love it but cj is great as well. Based on your comment about ARC it sounds like you like cj and would probably also like Cary.

John agree and I was only generalizing which can be dangerous and probably shouldn't do it. I have heard ARC on several ocasions and like their equipment. BAT I have heard only a couple of times and for short periods but liked it also. Also agree system synergy is everything my Cary mates very well with my Focal Be's.
huntermusic
76 posts
 
BAT REX
The sound is simply beautiful. I get lost in the music. And the damn thing is so quiet one MUST check the volume before putting on music. Heat? yes, but worth it. I see them turn up for sale on Audiogon for less that 50% of list price. I have had mine two years and it is a piece of equipment that will be hard to beat (not that I won't try).
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Focal Be's, that's my point Chuck. I have two friends with JM Labs speakers, and they tend to use warmer sounding cartridges, cables and equipment than I do. My Verity Audio Parsifal Encore's are not nearly as aggressive as JM Labs speakers, in fact some find the Parsifal's too polite. So I tend to find cables, cartridges and electronics that offer more speed and resolution. In fact, for the first time I've found silver cabling doesn't sound harsh.

I think many of us arrive at the same destination while following different paths to get there.

Kennesawjet, what is VAC? Welcome to high end audio.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I use all silver cabling (HGA) as well and find it to be very transparent and organic sounding; not harsh in any way. I also use NOS tubes in the Cary and the sound is very open and detailed and smooth.
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