Tube Research Labs Latest Dude Preamp

Hi yo2tup, thanks for answering my previous post. Now I am waiting to see if anybody has the chance to compare the Dude to the more expensive Shindo preamps.

Do you have the SE or the balanced version of the Dude?

Thanks!

I have a series of questions for the technical experts:

1) SE vs. Balanced. It’s a question of application rather than sound quality correct? In my case I have fully-balanced equipment on the input and output side driving the need for a fully-balanced unit.

2)Input component matching. The balanced Dude will handle much higher input. Probably 15 volts of input easily according to Paul. Does a higher voltage output on a cdp or dac equate to better sound in this case?

3) Output component matching. As I previously noted, my balanced Dude will use a bigger tubes (6080's) instead of 6sn7's for the active circuitry for my low-impedance loads. Paul asked if I needed this extra juice so they may still use 6sn7 in the base balanced version. Anybody have the scope on this?

I’m not seeing anything here that indicates a balance unit sounds better than the SE version but rather (like in my case) SE version can sound less that optimal for the wrong application.

1) Depends on how a company implements a balanced design. Typically true differential balanced circuits resolve noise issues and allow one to use extremely long cables without degrading sound quality. If the balanced circuit supports the 600 ohm standard (and not all of them do) then you get the added benefit of eliminating interconnect cable artifacts. Meaning you should not be able to hear the difference between different types of interconnect cables. Think pro audio equipment. On the other hand whether in general it sounds better than single ended is up in the air. Lots of threads on this in the forums that discuss this. You might want to look up some posts by Atmasphere (Ralph Karsten) who has often chimes in on such subjects.

2) No, not really. It just means the Dude can handle a lot more output voltage which is a good thing for flexibility purposes. A higher output voltage on the source will add more overall gain to the system, perhaps leaving less flexibility over the volume control.

3) Not sure what you mean by this one. Usually output impedance of the preamp is a key spec in determining how well it works with an amp. There are other considerations as well, but your question is vague in this respect so can't say for sure.

Sent in my order today for the DUDE!!