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Impressed with Tubes

For the first time, I auditioned a pair of Paradigm Reference Studio 100s run through a Rogue Perseus tube preamp & a Rotel RB1080 S/S power amp. Prior to that, I have never auditioned a tube preamp. Wow! What a difference! A richer, more integrated sound with the Rogue Perseus compared to S/S alternatives. Now that I am hooked on tubes, a few quick questions:

(1) Would there be a significant difference if I went with a tube power amp as well?

(2) Compared to the Rogue Perseus, has anyone had any experience with the Rogue Metis preamp?

(3) Other recommendations for tube preamps?

I am having a ball doing research for a new 2-channel system. And listening to a tubed component for the first time was a real treat!

Thank you for any help!

Kit
kitjv
labtec
189 posts
 
Atmasphere,

Not sure if your reference is to Steve McCormack (ie. mfg of transister amps), but I know he also recently tried the autoformers to very good success. I think he is going to use them at CES and promote their use on his website, so I don't think it's any "secret" I'm disclosing.

My two cents is worth far less, but I can also vouch that the difference you referred to can be quite significant.

It's probably fair to throw some kudos to McIntosh for implementing this long ago with SS designs.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Under what circumstances would using ZEROs not be a good idea?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,003 posts
 
They don't seem to help if the impedance of the speaker is already eight ohms or more.

That's kind of my point- the move to four ohm speakers which seemed to really gain steam in the 70s seems like it was not such a great idea after all.

Labtec, I thought of Mac almost as soon as I saw the email from Steve to Paul Speltz. Not such a bad idea after all...
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