Somebody Help Convert me to tubes

Turn back! That way lies madness! A move to tubes may result in a wholesale rebalancing of your system. By the time you finish you may not have much of the original system left...

OK, now I've got that off my chest, the problem with making a "small change" like a preamp is that the most crucial pairing in a tube system is the amp and the speakers. To my ears, that's where the real mojo lives. That being said, the easiest way to get a taste of tubes in your system is to bring in a tube pre. I've owned two - the Audion Premier and the Canary Audio 801 line stages. Both are excellent, but with different strengths. I really like what Canary does, and it may be possible to pick up one of their products used. Definitely buy used, because you may decide to move past whatever you get at this point.

If you decide that low-powered tubes are for you, allow me to recommend a line of speakers many haven't heard of - Fab Audio out of Toronto. Their Stonehenge is a remarkable buy for the money, and the big Model 1 (which I've been using for the last week and a half) is just plain remarkable. Feed either of them half a dozen good watts and you'll wonder where the music has been all your life :-)

I know this isn't really the kind of answer your looking for, but if I were you I would go to the Madrigal website and read the review on the 380S by Larry Alan Kay very carefully. I think after reading this review you might consider upgrading your 38S to a 380S and continue on enjoying your Mark Levinson preamp with it's features that a lot of other preamps just can't match. The rest of your system looks terrific to me and since you've got the preamp bug upgrading to the 380S will still make your preamp look the same but it surely will not sound the same. Read the review and be carefull what you do. Good luck.

I agree with Uriah about upgrading your 38S. And after you've done that, consider replacing your ML 27.5 with a ML 23.5. Besides being way more musical than the 27.5, the 23.5 has twice the output, which will give those poor undernourished Theil's what they need -- power!

Dewinkle
Take Nsgarch advice,sell your ML27.5 to me so I can bi-amp with mine.LOL.I actually have two separate systems,believe it or not.A SS and a tubed one.My SS system uses a ML27.5/ARC LS3B and my tubed is Rogue audio M150's/Magnum99.Also got three sets of speakers and I listen according to mood.
Best
George

Hi Dewinkle,
I had CS-3.6's for 8 years and went through a similar set of events. I drove them with both Levinson and Krell amps with their respective make preamps. Upon wishing for the same thing as you I started auditioning tubed preamps for 2-3 months with each one. I wanted to get to know the sound over time not just in one week. That being said I'd recommend going used, less painful financially.

Two preamps really put a smile on my face, made me relax and enjoy the "music" that was finally filling my head instead of it being a pratice of analysis. If having a remote is critical, then the first one will not work for that reason only. The second one does offer a remote model.

1) Sonic Frontiers SFL-2......can still be found at a very reasonable price and Upscale Audio helped me re-tube it to bring out the best.

2) B.A.T. VK-3i and VK-5i.....the 3i was awe inspiring for its relatively low price and the 5i with NOS tubes was killer.

Just my 2 cents on the topic since I'm familiar with Thiels sound.....infact I wish I never sold my 3.6's!