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Tube Phono with Tube Integrated Amp?

what are the drawbacks (if any) of this setup?  

i recently acquired a VPI Prime (amazing) with a Soundsmith Zephyr MKIII.   using a ProJect Tube Box S (which was a phenomenal upgrade for my previous ProJect Carbon table).  right now, running this through a vintage Kenwood KA-9100, powering Elac UniFi's bookshelf speakers. 

i'm looking to build a 2 channel system that i can grow with, so please disregard the amp/speakers for now.  I've read great things about the Manley Chinook and the Allnic H1201.   in the event that i upgrade to a tube integrated amp in the future, is there any downside?
i've read on this forum that a tube phono is better paired with a solid state amp.  



mjb87062017
jollytinker
213 posts
 
Seems to me that hybridity is the sweet spot for a lot of designers. My Doshi (tube) phono stage has a SS step up as its first gain stage, like the Chinook. My Art Audio Jota amp is a classic (at this point?) SET tube amp, but it has transistors for power regulation, and the output transformers have a lot do with its sound and its flexibility regarding speakers.  So point is, the SS/tube debate can really be overblown. 

I think the OP is right in noticing that it's a "thing" to pair a tube preamp with a solid state amp, but I think the conventional wisdom there is oversimplified. 


lewm
12,651 posts
 
Jolly, Where do you read that it’s a "thing" to pair a tube preamplifier with a solid state amplifier? I’m just curious, because, as I pointed out, unless you know what you’re doing, it can actually be a bad "thing". If one wants to do it, one needs to know the input impedance of the ss amplifier and the output impedance of the tube preamp. It is not unusual for a solid state amplifier to have an input Z of 10K ohms. If that’s the case, make sure that the tube unit provides an output Z of less than 1000 ohms, the lower below that, the better.  If the SS amplifier has an input Z of 25K ohms or higher, you're usually on safe ground to use a tube preamp.

Lots of "tube" phono stages use an FET or a bipolar transistor at the phono input to boost gain for an LOMC cartridge. So what? This makes it unnecessary to use a SUT with such cartridges. I don’t take this practice as an a priori indictment of the phono stage.
jollytinker
213 posts
 
@lewm - no disagreement here. It's just something I've heard bandied about as a little 'factoid' among people into audio, and not just online. Maybe it's a generational thing? guys that are younger than me speak knowledgeably about getting the benefits of tubes in the preamp, and the power and "cleanness" (goes the story) of SS in the power amp. I don't actually think it's true, I'm just reporting. (Btw I read your post on impedance matching with great interest. And as I said, my phono stage has a FET MC input, and I ain't complaining). 
lewm
12,651 posts
 
It wasn't you who attached a negative connotation to the use of FETs. 
As to tubes vs transistors, that's one of the oldest arguments in audio.  But I don't think one should mix technologies with the expectation that out of that mixture one will get the best of both worlds.  There's no guarantee of that.
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,556 posts
 

i'm in a similar situation i'm looking for a Phono stage in around the $2k give or take a few hundred. and there is so many out there that are good in this price range. the Chinook and the Musical Surroundings super nova 2 are high on my list, as the Zesto is just a bit out of my price range used still. but i'm still open to suggestions as well so i'll be keeping my eye on this thread.

but to answer some of your questions. tube phono's tend to be more musical and slightly warmer but tend to have more hiss and back ground noise. SS are quieter but not as lush sounding. that's of course a generalisation as there is great SS and Tube phono stages, specially as you go up in price and they can spend more on tube components the tube vs SS gap closes. I tend to like the synergy of tubes driving tubes but if you follow the impedance rules your fine. I've been happy with both.

But don't forget to look for something that will allow you to change carts as you mentioned as some phono stages have more flexibility then other when it comes to settings like input impedance and capacitance.

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