2. amps-preamps
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Once again...looking for a "tube like" SS preamp

Hi

I am looking for a solid state preamp that has the fatigue free sonic signature of a tube preamp. For reasons that will completely bore everyone out there, my setup makes it difficult to get a tube preamp like the Aesthetix or VTL which I absolutely love.

Source is a Bryston BDA-1 DAC. Amplification is Jeff Rowland 501 mono blocks. Speakers are Tannoy Kensingtons. I am considering between the Bryston BP26 (matches the source) and Jeff Rowland Capri (matches the source). I would love to hear from people who have had experience with either of these two models on how the sound compares with tube gear. Also, should I be considering any other models in the $5k +/- range that would fit best what I am looking for?

Thanks.
lp_newbie
mrdecibel
3,063 posts
 
One of my systems has an RGR preamp that I find is quite tube like......
johnss
569 posts
 
tough to do unles you are willing to do some work to a ss pre or have someone do it for you. First thing you need is a monster transformer, almost all use 15-30 watters, need 500 watts. numerous other upgrades are needed regardless of unit price.
orpheus10
8,668 posts
 
Lp newbie, I would not be the least bit bored by any or all of the reasons your setup makes it difficult to have a tube pre.
mikey8811
259 posts
 
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I have yet to hear a solid state pre that sounds like tubes. I have tested the Jeff Rowland Capri in my solid state system and I was also going down a similar path as you are now. It is a great pre - I heard things in recordings in the context of my system I had not heard before as it is very transparent and highly resolving but ultimately was too fatiguing for me, although to a lesser degree than other SS pre's. The Ayre K5xe MP was in my system smoother and had more body than the Capri but that isn't tube like either. None of them have the harmonic richness of dimensionality that tubes can give.
mitch2
3,967 posts
 
None of them have the harmonic richness of dimensionality that tubes can give.
Mikey, have you heard a TEAD Vibe7 with Pulse II? I am not going to argue that it is the same as a tubed preamp, but it certainly has the harmonic richness and dimensionality you indicate are lacking in the SS preamps you have heard, and it certainly sounds different than all the other SS preamps I have owned or heard.

After years of trying many different tubed and SS preamps, the Vibe/Pulse is the one preamp I can live with and have no regrets. Thats why I think the OP should give it a try if he really wants a SS preamp. The absence of balanced outputs should also not be a concern as I use mine into Jensen transformers for the rca/XLR conversion then into balanced amps with no sonic penalty whatsoever that I can hear.
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