So where should the tubes be?

Listening to The Tubes - White Punks on Dope ( tubes ), counting my tubes… Just kidding. I do lust after the Brinkmann RonT tube power supply for my Bardo direct drive turntable…..

For grins have a look at the Audio Research 750 power amp, a tube salesman wet dream… but i have heard it and wouldn’t trade it fir my hybrid tube / SS amplifiers….

fun…

No one is intending any oneupmanship. We are past all that.

You are being sarcastic right? No way in hades are all of us past oneupmanship. We have egos and exaggerated self worths on this forum that can be seen from space … and space like the space around Pluto.

I don’t think one can really experience what is special about tubes if the amp is not a tube amp.  But, it is critical to audition the candidates and to choose the right amp for the particular speaker, room conditions, volume requirement, etc.  It is far easier to end up with the wrong tube amp than a wrong line stage or source component.

This is an easy question to answer:  in the preamp.  Then the amp, but first the preamp.  I think a tube preamp with a SS preamp is wonderful, but since I have both a Don Sachs' tube preamp and tube amp, during the hot summers in the Central Valley of CA I give Don's amp a rest so using my SS amps this time of year soften my cooling bills.  Once the weather moderates, the tube amp is back in the rack.