2. amps-preamps
  3. 1261021553

tube pre amp plus solid state power amps?

HI there,
My systems have always been tube system all the way through phon stage + pre amp+ power amps, but recently I got a little tire of maintenance of these amps and thought about changing power amps to solid state. I listen classical music. I always love tube amp particular from my LP collection. I am worrying about using solid state power amp will loose the texture of the sound that I like. However, I have done a little reading, some one said high end power amps will keep that sound, especially something like McCormack DNA-500 and Claytons amps. There are some writing confuse me, such as: β€œit is not important to use tube phon stage, solid state will be better.” I even read the statement says: pre amp is the least important of the whole audio chain.”

Well, what I am thinking about is keep tube system for both my phon stage and pre amp, use solid state for power amps replace tube system. Does anyone can tell me this will be a good change, or I need either whole system on tubes or on solid state?

Thanks
suikang
hasmarto's avatar
hasmarto
198 posts
 
It's perfectly normal to use SS amp and tube pre, however, IMO, since you had tube amp, McCormack will kill your ears (my personal experience). Classe, YBA or something like that will do MUCH better. Again, IMO.
mitch2
3,972 posts
 
I have owned both of those amps. The McCormack is good but may not provide enough of the type of sound you are used to. Also, be very careful when matching tube preamps with SS amps. The McCormack has an input impedance of only 10K ohms and you want to have at least a factor of 10 (preferrably 20 or more) between the output impedance of your preamp and the input impedance of your amp (amp input imp. being 10x or more greater). Be careful of the preamp manufacturer's specs since some list the output impedance taken at 1K Hz while the actual high output impedance may be much greater in the bass due to limited coupling capacitor size. In the case of the McCormack, this would prematurely roll off the bass. Try to find information such as JA's Stereophile "measurements" on your preamp. The Clayton's generally have a much higher input impedance (my M200's are 100K ohms) and would mate well with virtually any preamp. The Clayton's are very nice SS amps and would provide much closer to the sound you are used to with your tube amps than the McCormack. Also consider hybrid amps such as Lamm M1.2, Blue Circle or Moscode. These use tubes in the earlier stages and SS ouput stages. The Lamm's in particular are excellent. I have not heard the others.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,468 posts
 
I would power up the tube stuff first, than the solid state stuff so no unwanted turn on transients will destroy your speakers.
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