Should I Try a Tube Preamp?

I have decided to upgrade the speakers first, one reason being that they are 20 years old and have foam surrounds which means they are reaching the end of their useful lives (excepting, of course, installation of new surrounds). I'm going to build a Madisound kit which incorporates exceptional Scan-Speak drivers. It should also be a fun experience doing it myself and learning about speakers at the same time. With my current speakers still doing their duty I don't have to miss the opportunity to listen to music in the meantime.

I think I've learned something about the benefits of tubes through this discussion so will keep that option open for the future. Thanks for your help and suggestions.

Good luck Ken. I think you are on the right track. :-) Let us know how you make out with the new speakers. Take care.

Hope you enjoy them!

Here I am, a year later and many changes to my system. I went the DIY route for, mainly, two reasons: (1) I could gather better quality parts over time and save $$ using my labor to construct, and (2) The opportunity to learn - a little - about electronic components.

First, I constructed a Madisound speaker kit (Zaph|Audio ZRT 2-Way) which uses great Scan-Speak Revelator drivers. As the designer, John Krutke, says: "This is about as good as it gets for a 7" 2-way." These revealed a whole lot more detail, clarity and music than was available with my old speakers.

I then investigated various DIY preamp possibilities and "found" Roy Mottram of tubes4hifi who provided some much needed confidence (re. working on electroncis) and assembly help. I purchased, from Roy, John Broskie's Tetra phono and Aikido line stages and built my tube preamp. I eventually upgraded the tubes from the inexpensive ones I started with to NOS (and good/used) Telefunken and Amperex.

This start into the tube world got me interested in a new amplifier and so I obtained from Roy's partner, Bob Latino, his ST-120 VTA Dynaco-clone kit which I finished a couple of weeks ago.

I AM VERY HAPPY. My system has gone from a nice budget audio system to a superb music machine. It has it all: imaging, soundstage, detail, clarity, etc. I have had a great voyage of discovery (which of course is not over) and along the way learned a great deal - with the help of many - about speaker set-up, acoustics, electronics, music, (some Physics).

Ken...congrats and thanks for the update. Sounds like you have arrived at a nice place and you have taken the DIY route to get there, learning a whole bunch on the way. Good for you.