Wow, thanks for all your responses! Following along, this has been a serious education. As far as the sound profile I’m looking for, since I’m new to tubes, I want to see what differentiates tubes from solid state. What they have to offer, I suppose. That’s partly what attracted me to the evo400, being that even it’s power supply is tube rectified. This, despite my self-righteous statements regarding a preference for domestic origin/manufacture. Having said that, the atmasphere mp-3 looks quite nice. I did see one prominent review that mentioned the experience of noise from its phono stage. Can anyone shed any light on that? I suppose I could just use a separate unbalanced phono stage, but it would be desirable to plug my SUT into a phono stage that’s already integrated into the balanced design of the preamp. Further, does anyone know if the power supply regulation/rectification on the mp-3 is tube based?Also, I have to admit, part of the allure of the evo400 would be looking at the glowing exposed tubes in a darkened listening room, rather than an illuminated red dot. It seems like the casework of the mp-3 doesn’t allow for such superficial pleasures.
Preamp recommendation; ≤ $5k
Hello all. I'll try to keep the memoir fodder to a minimum; I'm looking for a tubed preamp for my J2. I'm fairly new to the joys and kicks of hifi, and this would be my first non-solid state component. The J2 will be driving a pair of Zu Soul Supremes.
The conditionals: I have it on good authority, though not verified personally, that the J2 really comes alive when using its balanced inputs. With that thought knocking around in my head, and the fact that the J2 is the only production First Watt amp with balanced inputs, I am looking to utilize this feature of the amp. Therefore, the preamp I am looking for would have to be balanced. Further, I am not looking to spend more than $5k. Further still, I would strongly prefer that the preamp be domestic in design/manufacturing origin.
The dilemma is such that before I was gripped by the idea of narrowing my search to balanced designs, I was smitten by the Decware CSP325. Once settled on balanced, I shifted my attention to the Decware ZTPRE. I then discovered the Primaluna EVO400, which not only offers balanced outputs, but also a tube-regulated power supply. The only problem with the EVO400, from my perspective, is that it is manufactured overseas. I treat the practice of listening to records as a bit of a holistic event, and the idea that a contributing component to that experience is the benefactor of the exploitation of cheaper, non-domestic labor rates does not sit well with me.
In any case, if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations, they'd be most appreciated.
The conditionals: I have it on good authority, though not verified personally, that the J2 really comes alive when using its balanced inputs. With that thought knocking around in my head, and the fact that the J2 is the only production First Watt amp with balanced inputs, I am looking to utilize this feature of the amp. Therefore, the preamp I am looking for would have to be balanced. Further, I am not looking to spend more than $5k. Further still, I would strongly prefer that the preamp be domestic in design/manufacturing origin.
The dilemma is such that before I was gripped by the idea of narrowing my search to balanced designs, I was smitten by the Decware CSP325. Once settled on balanced, I shifted my attention to the Decware ZTPRE. I then discovered the Primaluna EVO400, which not only offers balanced outputs, but also a tube-regulated power supply. The only problem with the EVO400, from my perspective, is that it is manufactured overseas. I treat the practice of listening to records as a bit of a holistic event, and the idea that a contributing component to that experience is the benefactor of the exploitation of cheaper, non-domestic labor rates does not sit well with me.
In any case, if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations, they'd be most appreciated.
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- 23 posts total
- 23 posts total