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Seriously considering tube preamp…opinions?

Tube virgin, here. I am building a system and I'm trying to contain the preamp/amp cost to $3k or so. (I could go up a little.) 

I'm inclined not to dive into tubes all the way through, but get a solid state on the output end. (Open to suggestions; inclined toward PS Audio, Parasound.) I'm reading around about tube preamps and have talked with my local dealer, who sells Black Ice/Jolida and Prima Luna (PL). He used to carry Rogue but said they kept coming back for repairs. That's why he carries PL.

I'm asking these questions after having established (via reviews, comments) that Schiit gear is quite the value. Lately, I've been reading about Decware and other small tube makers. I'm very curious about buying direct, if possible, and a company that stands behind their products is crucial.

So, your opinions about tube integrated or *especially* tube preamps —

1. Who do you like? Consider I want to do pre/amp for a total of $3k if possible.

2. Do you think PL is worth all that money just for a preamp? I get the feeling they're high quality but a bit over-hyped. (No disrespect to the highly passionate Kevin Deal, but he's all over my search results.) And what would you think about $2k/$1k preamp-to-amp spending ratio?

3. Any sense of what happened to Jolida since the name change to "Black Ice"? I see there's a sordid story there but did the re-branding clear up the mess? Any experiences with the Black Ice company?

4. I know there are many Schiit fans out there; so my question would be -- did anyone consider Schiit for tube preamp and go another way? Or move beyond Schiit for any particular reason? It's hard not to just capitulate and do a Freya+ or Saga+ but why wouldn't one just go with Schiit?




128x128hilde45
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,986 posts
 
@tvad  I'm so grateful to learn from your experience. I do not want to buy and sell, over and over. I'm not against changes but there are other things besides audio I want to pursue, if I may say that out loud.
@decooney has been making the same point about all tubes — I think the message is sinking into my head.

I've had exactly 1 experience with tubes — the all-tube Prima Luna EVO 400, which I didn't like. Sloppy bass, lack of tightness and crisp highs. And I do realize that was likely a one-off for various reasons. If I could have another session which had the virtues of tubes (a variety of virtues, I'm not trying to oversimplify) but which contained a bit more of the crisp, tight, control of solid state, I'd probably be ready to go all tube right now. But I have to hear it.

I don't think of your comment as a sidebar; you see that I'm after what you finally accomplished, and you're warning me off what might be a potential dead-end. That's appreciated.

And RMAF may be worth waiting for, final decision-wise. I'll probably gain years of experiential knowledge from that event.

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hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,986 posts
 
It's good to have aspirations! I have a very detailed chart which I've built from these suggestions; some of these will be marked out as things for down the road. This is one. @decooney was saying a lot of great things about Pass, too. Thank you!
last_lemming
639 posts
 
Sorry,I was thinking the Decware item would be your preamp. 
decooney
2,101 posts
 
....@tvad
Pass Labs also makes an excellent integrated amp, the INT-60, for around $5200 used/demo (but IMO, the XA-30.8 is where it’s at).

Agree with tvad on these two. While these are above @hilde45s stated budget, I messaged him the same kind of referral last night about the 30.8 and INT-60 and a few of the Firstwatt amps if he decides to go with solid state instead of tube components.

It’s been interesting watching how hard Nelson works to make his circuits and solid state gear sound like tube. Today we see Nelson’s NuTube DIY preamp. Now all we need is a DIY NuTube amplifier by Nelson to make it one step closer to an "all tube" equation. Hehe. :)


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