BHK is not tube amplification, it’s hybrid. You have to try all tube before making ANY judgements. With efficient speakers to match.
If yours are below 92, give it up.
Adding tube sound to my SS system
I have a question for the hive mind. I had the opportunity try a PS Audio BHK tube preamp in my system the other day (in between my LUMIN T2 and Luxman 509x bypassing the luxman preamp) and the vocals / midrange made my heart flutter and chills run up my spine. I heard life detail and nuance in the vocals that I didn’t with the Luxman preamp and sounded like the singer was in the room. But, it was lacking in soundstage, bass and so so recordings didn’t shine. The Luxman preamp made everything sound smoother and liquid but at the expense of some life in the midrange. I ultimately liked the sound without the BHK preamp better, But, that tube sound is intriguing and I’m looking for a way to add it into my system.
system is LUMIN T2->Luxman l509x->spendor D9.2
I keep the Luxman loudness on all the time. Maybe that says I like a fuller sound. i stream 99% of the time through Roon or airplay (tidal and my wife uses Spotify). The modern convenience of controlling volume from the phone is essential (this the LUMIN). Home theater runs through the HT bypass on the luxman. All kinds of music jazz, folk, rock, hip hop etc. simplicity has value over going fully separates. I’ve been trying to research streaming dacs that have a tube or streaming tube preamps but not really having any luck finding anything that fits the bill. Looking to upgrade the LUMIN as I love the aesthetic of the Luxman so it would be hard to part with but I’d do it if needed. Wondering if streamer to tube preamp to power amp is the only way to make it work. Budget is not too much more than my current gear and willing to buy used.
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This is sacrilegious, but I’ve experimented lately with SS lines stages versus my tube line stages. What I’ve concluded is that good SS line stages (Phison PD2 SE, Meridian 808v5) are highly transparent. When I add a good SS line stage in front of a tube line stage, the resulting sound is 99% that of the tube line stage alone. That said, when I run the SS line stage on it own - directly driving power amp - it’s missing that "breath of life" in the midrange. It sounds "very good" to be sure, but I absolutely CANNOT enjoy music like that, long-term. I’ve tried. My favorite tube line stages also don’t cause any constriction to sound stage; in fact they enhance it. They add engagement factor in spades. This is definitely anti-purist. However, I find value-add in the conveniences of the SS line stages - particularly the superior remote volume control (pots and stepped attenuators suck here) and the Left / Right balance control. Even slight channel imbalances drive me CRAZY, and many systems have one to some degree. So am I using these expensive tube stages (VAC Master, Rogue Hera, ARC Reference 6) just as a fancy "coloring box"? Maybe. Do I care? No. I think of my eyeglasses, which from a technical standpoint are horrible little distortion generators: they add geometric distortions, chromatic aberrations, reflections, impose on the fringes of the image with their frames etc. However, they work with my own flawed eyes to allow me to perceive and enjoy much more detail than I could otherwise. I feel the same is happening with tube preamps, on some level - whatever psychoacoustics are going on between our ears and brain, the tube preamp transmits more of the musical message in a way I can enjoy it. "Ultimate transparency" be damned. |
@fuzztone that is not accurate unless you are using a Flea-watt Tube amplifier. Many PP Tube Integrated and Amplifiers on the market that will power inefficient speakers. AR, Unison, Jadis, Rogue, AH, Octave just to name a few. I have speakers with 88 db sensitivity and my Octave V110SE drives them spectacularly and sounds heavenly. |
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