Of the list above I would do the Sachs or deHavilland. The Backert Labs is an excellent preamp; IIRC it employs an output transformer. Since your amp is single-ended input I don't see an advantage with that. I also have a preference for 6SN7s as a line stage tube- to me they are more robust and musical than 6922s/6DJ8s or any of the 12A*7 series (we use the 6SN7 in the line section of all our preamps); that is how I arrived at this opinion.
Would switching amps make a big difference?
I've been using a Belles 21a tube pre and a pair of PrimaLuna Prologue Sevens with Martin Logan Ethos speakers for the last 6 years and it sounds good. I'm pretty stuck in tube land. But does it get better?
I was wondering if a Raven Osprey Integrated amp or the Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 or another amp, ideally integrated could elevate and sound even more, around same price of $5k - which if I went ahead is about what my current amp setup should bring me.
Then there is the idea of switching to the Martin Logan ESL Impression 11a...
Thoughts? Suggestions?
I was wondering if a Raven Osprey Integrated amp or the Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 or another amp, ideally integrated could elevate and sound even more, around same price of $5k - which if I went ahead is about what my current amp setup should bring me.
Then there is the idea of switching to the Martin Logan ESL Impression 11a...
Thoughts? Suggestions?
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- 49 posts total
Thanks for all the advice. I decided to try two things. First i ordered a pair of the Zero Autoformers. Just put them in a few days ago and the results were HUGE with my tube amps. My Martin Logan Ethos speakers, sound fantastic. More detail, so much more live and tight from top to bottom. Next I ordered a deHavilland preamp. Which I’ll be testing next. |
First i ordered a pair of the Zero Autoformers.The trick with getting the highs right is something called gain bandwidth product. With most amps this is pretty poor. This can result in a harsh high end and is why a lot of solid state amps have troubles in this regard, especially when confronted with a low impedance load at the same time. The ZEROs at least help out with the latter. Making the amp's job easier is usually audible :) |
- 49 posts total