Amp Upgrade Path?
Or maybe the question should be: What am I missing? I'm relatively new to the tube world. About a year and a half ago I bought a used Rogue CM1 (KT120 power tubes) and have steadily upgraded sources and cables....and enjoying it very much.
I'm at what I guess I would call full circle again...meaning my sources are here to stay for the immediate near future and I'm back to thinking speakers and amps.
As I gather, different power tubes have different sonic signatures and I just don't have a reference to what that means.
Is a Prima Luna better then a CM1?
maybe an Air Tight?
And then there is configuration: Power amp with a preamp? Mono Blocks and a preamp?....or stay with an integrated.....
The major short fall of the CM1 (imho) was the phono stage. This was corrected by a EAR 834P mm/mc phono stage. Analog source is a Nottingham 294 Space deck w/ a Lyra cart....w/ Acoustic Zen Matrix interconnects - thank you Audiogon for getting me there.
Thanks for all recommendations
Budget: let's say 5K new or used
@smaarch1 about two months ago there were similar conversations about your Rogue, your Totem Hawk's, and what you were looking for. Several members replied with good ideas, including our own. I'd try this first. What say you?
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@smaarch1 where are you located? Any dealers in your area that can loan you an amp? Have you considered the new Atmasphere class D monoblocks? Haven't heard them myself but from others hearing good things about them. |
Your speakers limit you to relatively high power tube amps that start to sound like ss amps....if you're thinking long term, you might start with speakers with 94 dB or higher sensitivity. Tube amps especially sound best in the first watt. I can drive my speakers as loud as anyone would want with a sophia Baby amp that weights 14 lbs and I would put up against most $10K amps. In the tube world, keeping it simple can result in amazing sound. You've gotten a lot of advice that is the standard route, often marked with cairns placed by dealers who want to sell you all of those components. I can tell by your post that you're jumping on each trendy upgrade. My advice is to stay away from trendy. Primaluna is the hot topic now but it is just an above average Chinese amp. Now Decware can back up it's demand with quality but your speakers limit you there. Do your own research. Transformers are one of the key elements of an awesome tube amp (sophia has great transformers, so I helped you some with your research). Integrated isn't always bad and in fact, in tube amps integrated can be a very good thing. many integrated tube amps have the simplest of preamps. That's a recurring theme in my thoughts--simple = less manipulation of the signal = less degradation. I think of a signal as coming from the DAC or TT as 100% and every tie a system touches it, it degrades it. Your job is to design a system that degrades it the least. Finally, research tubes before you commit. SET vs push pull. 300b or some other tubes. I'm using a 6c33c now but it gets pretty hot, but it has amazing detail. You need to know what you're trying to accomplish before buying your next amp. Jerry |
