@mbrusso the NAD although very good is not as good as my tube power amp. The tube unit fleshes out instruments better. the M66 is supposed to be very good, however it is a digital pre and I wanted to stay in the analog domain. SS and digital are getting better all the time. However if you are into super critical listening I think the tubes are still better unless you spend uber amounts of money on SS
Solid State Preamp to replace tube unit
I currently own a CJ tube preamp. Ive always owned tube preamps and I would like to get my first solid state preamp.I am fed up with buying expensive hard to find tubes that last 3 months or new production tubes with that not so great sound. I pine for consistency. I probably wont sell my CJ I'll just keep it. My power amps are NAD M23 for the summer and CJ Premiere 12's for the winter.
Since I dont dabble in the solid state world I am not sure what to get. I figure since this is my first SS unit 4-5k preowned??. Some brands I have considered CODA< Pass, AYRE, Classe, Bel Canto, Krell etc. Note: I have tried the Parasound and Benchmark but they didnt do it for me. I dont like anayltical sterile sound. If it is a touch warm/colored that is probably good as I am coming from a very warm CJ tube unit.
Must haves are a remote with balance control. Multiple outputs (XLR and RCA). I have an outboard phono pre. Thank you for reading and for your suggestions.
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@ambrusso Keep in mind that tubes have a great sense of dimensionality, and solid state will not have that to anywhere near that degree, although you may have more "solid’ bass with solid state. I have an NAD C399 (Class D) and I like it, but I find it less "soulfus" than NAD’s non-class D units. And clearly it has less true dimensionality than say, my Convergent Technology, or VAC preamps. |
@gbmcleod I just switched over from my NADM23 to my CJ P12 monoblocks. There is no doubt the tube power amps are better. The instruments so so much more real. |
@jayctoy I would but I am concerned about support since they are out of business
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