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Transistor Preamp that sounds like a Tube Preamp?

You probably think I'm crazy, but with all the improvements in solid state, are there any transistor preamps that have the following characteristics I hear in tubes?

1. Fully fleshed out instrumental timbre and overtones?

1. Full, alive midrange with bloom, body and dimension?

2. The airy space and separation between instruments?

3. That realness and aliveness of tubes?

4. At a retail of around $6,000 or less?

I'm sure I'll be getting some clashing opinions on this....
saxo
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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,750 posts
 
Well, the tube emulation outputs on my cheap, old Carver pre-amp does a lot of this on my system, save the "bloom" part, I'd say.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,750 posts
 
Is "bloom" necessarily an attribute of better tube equipment?

With the best tube system I've heard recently in terms of $$$$s by a longshot (VTL and VAC), I did not hear an overt amount of tube warmth or "bloom", just a touch of warmth and overall smoothness and flow that resulted in a very natural sound on Magico minis (no sub). It was not that much different from a good SS system I thought.

Another much less expensive but certainly no slouch system (AR + Rogue) had a lot of "bloom". It was very pleasant and musical but I did not think it necessarily as natural or realistic sounding. This was with USher monitors and a Rel sub. Maybe it was the Rel sub that added some of the "bloom" I heard in the low end.
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pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Agree, bloom is not warmth, I think of it as Tvad describes it. And I agree on the Pass; I feel very stupid having sold my XA30.5; I miss it and may get one again.
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