2. amps-preamps
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Can one have too many tube components in a system?

Especially if one has sensitive speakers? For myself with ZU Omen defs, I have to keep an eye on the gain of the amps I choose since my BHK runs tubes. If gain is too high, tube hiss becomes an issue. However, I see people with tubed amp, tube pre, tubed phono pre, tubed dac......doesn't the tube his (just like tape hiss every time you copy a tape over and over) intensify with every component? Or to pull this off one needs less efficient speakers?

aberyclark
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,308 posts
 

It’s the overall tube amp design and implementation that normally matters for sound. Not # tubes.

Where # tubes matter is when one starts to go bad. You have more tubes to test and verify in order to isolate the issue than otherwise. So in general more tubes means harder to maintain over time.

markpao
519 posts
 

I had mostly all tube gear (amp, preamp, cd player, phono amp, headphone amp) with very efficient speakers for several years, never had tube hiss issues.

fiesta75
1,378 posts
 

Yes you can. I love efficient speakers like Zu but not tubes.

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