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Tube Preamp with Solid State Amp?

Greetings!

I’ve seen some folks using Tube Preamps with Solid State Am ps. I’m thinking of doing that with my system as part of an incremental change. I currently have a Parasound P5 preamp with a Parasound A21 driving Klipsch Cornwall 4’s. Will a decent / good Tube Preamp really make a difference in my sound? I enjoy what I have now but really want to experience Tubes in my system. Thanks!
128x128bigjohn9095
spindoctor0470's avatar
spindoctor0470
17 posts
 

Tom Evans 'Mastergroove' SS phone stage with Tom Evans 'Vibe phoenix' SS pre amp. Custom-built Yamamoto A010 2 watt / channel VT52 tube amp. Speakers- Lowther TP1s with Lowther PM5A 15 ohm drivers. Approx' 105db/1 watt. Having an absolutely silent but lovely sounding SS phono and pre is essential with such sensitive speakers. The Yamamoto makes a tiny bit of hum but makes up for that with the most spectacular sound I've heard from a SET amp. But only 2 watts severely limits your speaker choices. The Yamamoto is wonderful on a friend's K' horns and another's Tannoy Westminster's. But It refuses to work with anything less than 100db/1 watt! 

rocray's avatar
rocray
1,448 posts
 
Right now,my system consists of an Aric Audio Unlimited tube pre,and a First Watt F5,driving a pair of Graham Chartwell LS3/5’s in a well treated 9x13’ room. To these ears,sounds like wonderful music. I also have a Prometheus TVC passive pre that I swap in from time to time. Right now,I’m really enjoying the distortion that tubes have to offer.  They make my soul smile. 
rbodner
52 posts
 
I personally love that combination. I am running a concert fidelity CF-080LXV2 with 2 Concert Fidelity 200-FX amps. The tubes are on the back of the pre-amplifier and accessible so it is designed for rolling in different tubes.
toolbox149
263 posts
 
Long time tube pre/SS amp afectionado here too.  
Big John, I see that you are using a Parasound A-21, which mmemory tells me, has an input impedence of 33K. Just make sure to match the output impedence of your tube pre-amp to the input of your amp.
I've always been told the ratio should be at least 10:1 meaning in your case, the preamp should have no higher than a 3.3K output impedence. Lately, I've seen people that use an even higher ratio of 20:1.   As a "for instance", my good ol' MacIntosh C-20 pr-amp recommend amps with an input impedence of at least 50K.  Violating this rule can lead to a diminished bass response.
Not to worry, you still will have a large amount of pre-amps to choose.
toolbox149
263 posts
 
 
jeffjoeblob5 posts
05-10-2020 10:47am
Good sound, in concept. I use an ancient (1963) Macintosh C-20 with solid state amps, with my magneplanars. I've tried other preamps, but none sound as clear an accurate as my old Mac. Whatever you do, get a high quality preamp.

Hey Jeff!   Another member of the C-20 club. Alright!
Got my first C-20 back in 1977, and after I went quadraphonic I bought a second in 1980. Still use both of them: line level - one just before my front channel amp and one just before my rear channel amp. This was long before the term "tube buffer" was ever thought up.
I've had them in for various services over the years, and then sent them both out to a MacIntosh repair facility in Arizona for a general re-cap about 12 years ago.  Don Sachs had them in about seven years ago to refurbish/improve them even more.  My s/n ratio is now almost 10db higher than the original specs.
These are more than a couple of pre-amps. They've become good ol' friends.
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