Thoughts from Joule preamp owners?

I would think that the Joule is a particularly good match with SS, not only because you can adjust the output impedance, but I think Joule brings a tonal richness and dimensionality to the sound that brings just a touch of what tube lovers love about tubes to a tube/ss combo - worked great driving a Pass XA30.5. Also works very well with the Atma-sphere OTLs and an solid option if the VSN amps are out of your price range - though you would probably opt for their own preamp.

Hello Pubul57,

tube/ss combo sounds very attractive but I tried a number of combinations and results were not always desirable. One, obvious reason, that many ss amps have low input impedance whereas many tube preamps(even excellent like BAT) have high output impedance. Others reasons probably play some role as well but I never know in advance.

I agree with you in regard to Joule not only because its variable impedance and rich vivid sound but also because its very user-friendly even for solid state lover. Its on "standby" 24/7 and with one flick of the switch you are ready (30 seconds) to listen to music and do not have to wait warm up. Another, re-tubing which all of us hate need to eb done once per 5-10 years. You also don;t need to search for best NOS - Joule owns the best and sell them for song.

You can extend their tube life span even more but you would need to speak with them directly, I don;t want to go there.

Yup. I think their low setting is 400ohms OI, which should work with just about any SS amp, at least in terms of impedance. Would love to hear the 450, well, maybe at a show in the Merlin room.

I have an la 150 mark 1 and an La 300 ME. The 300 mated to rites of passage provides the most seductive, involving, and satisfying sound I have ever heard. The 150 resides in the second system where it is not as good as the LA 100 it replaced; i will be updating it to a mark 2 one of these days.

I love the joule stuff. It got me off the merry go round. As stated above, the fact that Jud does not do upgrades of the month but sticks with circuitry and approaches that fit within his philosophy is refreshing.

It does seem many have concluded the MKI was a dud, not typical Jud. The MKII was wonderful, and the SE version even a bit better, but not sure I would bother with that upgrade, unless I simply had the itch, the MKII pretty darn good in its own right.