Tube preamp options
My system from the preamp on consists of a rouge rp-7, rogue m180 monoblocks, and vandersteen quatro wood speakers. My main source is a brinkmann Bardo through a Rogers PA-2 phono pre. It all sounds great. But there's that itch, you know? I get tremendous soundstage but not that much depth. Clarity is great, mids are nice, bass is excellent. But it doesn't quite have that in the room sound that I'm looking for. The RP7 sounded too solid state and analytical for me out of the box with the stock JJ tubes so I've done extensive rolling. Been through all sorts of NOS tubes and landed on amperex as they seem to have the best balance of warmth and clarity. My thought is, maybe I can find a pre that has those attributes out of the gate without all the rolling. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being able to tailor the sound with trying different tubes but I feel like maybe there's a brand out there who's house sound I like better. I haven't listened to anything more yet but brands that are on the list to check out are Backert labs, maybe a used ARC Ref 6, VTL, VAC. There are a million little boutique brands tho and I'm asking what people have heard in the 10k price range, new or used, that might be a good fit for me and why.
Thanks!
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- 96 posts total
Thanks for your further thoughts. My Bardo is on an HRS isolation platform but I can't say I have a tremendous amount of isolation downstream. I have nothing on the tonearm which is a brinkmann 10.5 or cartridge which is a Mike Trei installed ortofon cadenza black. I got the unit from stereo exchange and Trei had set it up for them. On my phono pre which is a Rogers Hi Fi PA-2, I took off the stock feet and put some Herbie's audio lab tenderfeet. I also have some Herbie's super sonic stabilizers on top of it. Tube dampers on all the gain tubes. I have no isolation under the preamp. I did put some 3" granite slabs undery quatros at RVs suggestion. Maybe an HRS platform under each of the other components is a good next move. @soix my speakers are about 30"inches from the front wall. I spent a fair bit of time talking to John Rutan at Audio Connection about speaker placement. Like I said, my soundstage is wide and focused with nearly no toe in but very little depth. @gdnrbob thanks for the thoughts. Going all Vandersteen might be the ticket. We'll see. I've looked at the Atma stuff and it's all balanced which is great but would mean I'd need a different phono stage and I really like mine. Haven't looked closely at Ayre but will check it out! |
OK as mot of you know we are manufacturers of tube audio products. Point-to-point wired using the best parts. Most of the suggestions above are safe choices but all have advantages and disadvantages meaning they are all built to a price point.. Depending on your price point We could send you something to hear or my recommendation would be to buy a used Counterpoint SA-3000 and send it to us for a complete upgrade. We just finished one and it was really killer. Customer transformer, audio note resistors and capacitors, nichicon capacitors, V-Caps, etc. This is as close as you will get to reference sound without spending that much. We have a listening room in Northern New Jersey with Sonus Faber, Vivid, Horning, Vandersteen Sevens and 5As so we can to hear many options and how they interact. We also repair and modify components so we get to hear more gear than most of you have ever heard in a your system in 20-30 years. Plus we can build you a preamp to what ever tube or specifications you prefer.
Happy Listening,
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+1 and nice pun on “sound advice” Bob… that is a good job on a Sunday. The local book shop sells LPs as well as books and cards. Yesterday (Saturday) on the TT was “Best of the Smiths” playing. And the Australian Author Di Morrissey’s new book “The High Tide” was on display. I picked up the book, and asked is this the Morrissey that is playing on the TT?
I am not sure that is 100% a certainly… The cartridge can feed out as balanced or wired to be single ended. Sonically it did not seem to be vastly different. It is probably a good time to get @atmasphere to opine on the phono and preamp… |
- 96 posts total