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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
4,998 posts
 
Thanks Ihcho and 93cobra

I'm looking now at that Rhumba 1.3.
It is kind of a bummer when they tell you how much better the Extreme is! Just when I'm thinking, "This is the right price point for me" they go ahead and tell you all the ways things could be better. Aaarrrggghhhh. https://backertlabs.com/new/
markusthenaimnut's avatar
markusthenaimnut
373 posts
 
I warmly invite you to consider tracking down and auditioning a pair of Quad ESL speakers. 63s, 988s, 2805/2905, etc. Any of these might require a rebuild (cost about $2000 with shipping) but there is a reason why these are universally well regarded.

There are many solid state amps on the used market that would work well with these. Quad 909 for instance. This approach would result in a speaker/ power amp combo for around $4000. A budget of $2000 - 2500 would provide for a brand new 6SN7 based tube preamp that would blow your mind. Figure ~1200/1500 for a tube buffered DAC (Tubador, Orchid...) and stream from your laptop or a used cd/DVD player picked up used for $10 - 50 and you’re golden.  This would result in a system close to state of the art.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Someone is always going to tell you how much better something that costs twice as much is. You've kinda bounced all over the place and had a lot of advice so here's  my 2 cents concentrate on the speakers first and foremost those along with your room is about 75% of what you'll hear. 
Post removed 
93cobra
16 posts
 
I’ll let you know how the Extreme sound compared to the regular 1.3.
I will have one to audition in my system as soon as I get time. 
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