2. amps-preamps
  3. 1172156911

Good tube pre amp for a mostly digital system

I am seeking advice from the a'gon community concerning a tube pre for my digital system. Some folks have qued be in to the fact that adding a pre tube will do wonders for my sound.

I have the jeff rowland 501 mono's and the bel canto dac3 as a my pre, a marantz running as a transport. On thing about the rowlands is that they prefer balanced so the tube pre must have balanced outs.

I've looked at the valve audio black widow, the cary slp 05, and the aesthetix calypso. All have balanced outs, well I'm not sure about the valve audio. Any other recommendations? Is adding a tube pre really going to do anything for my sound?

Lastly, being lacking some knowledge in this world, I am confused as to how, if I got a pre amp, I would go about connecting my cd running digitally to my dac then to the pre amp. Would it just be a matter of connecting the dac to the pre or does the cd player also have to be connected to the pre amp?

Lots of questions I know, yet lots to learn! Any help, suggestions, opinions are be welcome.


mariasplunge
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
IMHO, you could accomplish the same thing by getting rid of the DAC and the Transport, and getting a good tubed CDP, such as the Audio Aero Capitole II, and running it direct into the amp. (Since you are not running any other sources, why spend the money on a preamp?) This is a great cdp, IMHO, (I wish I had the money to get one!), as its sound is as close to analog (i.e. vinyl) as any cdp I have ever heard. My friend has one, and it sounds incredible.

He and/or I have compared it to some really good cdps, such as the Marantz (I forget which model number), the Esoteric DV50 (good, but not great), the Opus 21 (Great, but not incredible - This is what I own, btw!), and we are now comparing it to the Ayre C-5xe. Initial indications, (from my friend, but not me, yet!) is that the Ayre, while a great universal cdp, is still not quite as good as the AA Capitole II is on Redbook. (I hope to get over to my friends to listen to this in direct comparision myself in the next week or two.)

I will point out that both my friend and I consider vinyl to be superior to digital is all its formats, so that may color our taste in how we prefer our CDPs to sound. (So take that into account.)

My two cents worth.
plato
1,543 posts
 
Hi Maria.

I guess I can "clue you in to the fact" that both Audio Research and BAT make very good balanced tube preamps that should work well in your system...
mariasplunge OP
174 posts
 
Thnaks fro your responses folks. Kurt, could you key me into what is a CDP. I am not sure what that does and how it connects directly to my amps?
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
Sorry, I abbreviated Compact Disk Player (cdp).

(I forget that sometimes I am writing to people who don't live, eat and breathe Audiogon, and/or Audio Asylum, and may not know all the little shorthand we use.)

I apologize!
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
I started my journey into tubes with a AE-3 Line Level Pre Amp. At that time my system was a follows: Krell FPB 200, Adcom 750 pre amp and Philips 962 digital player. The AE-3 added warmth and detail. I felt I had hit pay dirt. So what’s a good HiFi nut do, add more tubes. I bought a CAL Alpha DAC. Oh my, it’s sounding good. Now that digital brightness is smoothed out. Are we seeing a pattern here? Click on my posted system below. Tubes and more tubes. The darn things are addicting. At first you tell yourself, I can handle this. Then you find yourself searching the web for NOS tubes. Some guy in a tube forum post a thread about his latest discovery, a very rare 1950’s long plate 12x7 that is the cat’s meow. There you go on a quest to find them. You just gotta get a couple because those little glowing glass tubes that hold the key to audio nirvana.

Sorry for going on and on, I am going to see about a NOS 12 step program right after I shave my head.
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