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
@tvad If I might wax philosophical for a moment about what’s happened for me, here: this has been a great lesson in "slow technology," a drawing back from that impulse to go 0-100 mph right away. Part of that is impelled, I suspect, by how we buy things now — instantly. Such habits clearly shape, also, how many automatically seek to learn and communicate, too. A favorite thinker who’s been tracking this way of living for 30+ years, Albert Borgmann, calls it the "device paradigm." (He’s quite a famous figure; I recommend his books, and here a good one is: https://www.amazon.com/Technology-Character-Contemporary-Life-Philosophical/dp/0226066290)

But the impulse to speed and automaticity, lack of patience, isn’t necessarily how one must live (as you all know). Conversation and reflection slows me down and helps me realize that doing things quickly is often at odds with doing things well. This general point was familiar to me already (I’ve written on education and the rise of the smart phone), but because audio involves so many complex devices which "do it all," I didn’t grasp how firmly audio, too, is within this sphere.
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Tubes add serious harmonics to terrible recordings to make them sound better.   They also add harmonics to good recordings to make them sound worse.
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When i listened to tubes on good recordings, I liked the way they sounded. That was compared to solid state A/B and D class. I have not however tried the Pass Labs Class A. I'd like to do that.