2. amps-preamps
  3. 166761-976

Your tube preamp and ss amp thread

Last night I was listening to my tube preamp and my tube mono blocks, noticed an imbalance in the sound, and as usual I traced it to a tube problem in the mono blocks. Luckily, I also own a ss stereo amp as a 'backup'. IME, ss amps tend to be a lot more reliable than tube amps. Nonetheless, I would be interested in how many other folk run a tube preamp and ss amp combo, and if so, what are your choices.
128x128daveyf
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,280 posts
 
In my main system, it has always been a tube preamp and solid state amp.  Presently a Mac C2500 tube pre and a Mac MC302 solid state stereo amp. 
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,597 posts
 
I actually just bought a ss amp (Modright 100SE) for summer use,and my tube amp will be idle until fall.My Dac and pre are both tubed.
I like the extra power and not thinking about the care and feeding of valves for now:-)It took a little fussing with switching out cables to get it to play well with my Harbeths,as it has high- ish gain which isn't adjustable like the Aric Audio amp.
helomech
1,530 posts
 
I run an Allnic L1500 into a Benchmark AHB2. What stands out most with this combo is the incredible dynamics. I have no desire to revert to a full-tube amp in my main system. 
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