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TRL Dude Dilemna

Based on all the high praise for the TRL Dude preamp here and other sites, I took a chance and bought one from a local A-goner to see if it could displace an Air Tight ATC-2 preamp currently in my system. The two amps I currently use are a McIntosh MC-402 and Viva 845 SET Monos. It turns out that the Dude is not compatible with either amps due to an impedance mismatch. So I only got to hear the Dude in a compromised performance mode.
I was not quite wanting to give up on the Dude yet given everyone else's enthusiasm about its performance. I am considering the Samson monos as a natural match. I can convince myself that the Samson's could be better than the MC402..My real issue is that I would have to give up the Vivas. Not sure I can make the leap that a solid state amp will satisfy me as much as those SET Vivas. Then there is the leap of faith that I cannot hear the Samsons with purchasing them....
Has anyone replaced their SET amp with Samsons and remained satisfied with the decision? My speakers are the Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3 which are about 90db efficient with an impedance 6.5 Ohms, +/- 0.75 Ohms 150Hz to 20kHz. Thanks for your input..
tellefsen
jwm
918 posts
 
Keep the Viva in my opinion you have one of the best amps out there. I would rather buy the Viva preamp or similar one than give up that beautiful Viva.
jtwrace's avatar
jtwrace
443 posts
 
Also, have you contacted Paul @ TRL and see if he can change the impedance?
tellefsen OP
73 posts
 
I have been in touch with Paul and he has been very helpful. We talked about using something like Jensen transformers, but he does not like the sound of them. We discussed altering the input impedance of the amps..but when we found out that the Viva has in an input transformer, we ruled that out.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,455 posts
 
Well you have learned a good lesson. The Mac has a very low input impedance and is a very poor match with the Dude. I own the Dude and have been shopping for the best amp to go with it and my Soundlab speakers.

1.) You want an amp with high input impedance. This is very important with the Dude. Most tube amps will work as well as many SS smps with at least 60k ohms or so input impedance. The higher the better.

2.) The Samson amps are wonderful, but they do NOT sound like tube SET amps. They will not sound like your current SET tube amps. I also owned the Samson amps with the Dude and while I loved the two, I would never mistake the Samson sound for tubes.

I have what I consider a perfect amp for the Dude and one that works very well with most speakers. The Aesthetix Atlas hybrid amp is simply wonderful. It has an input impedance of 475K ohms ! It uses the same 6sn7 input tubes. It has a very silky smooth tube sound with lots of power and ease. It would be a fine amp for your speakers.

I suggest tube or solid state amps with 100k ohms or more of input impedance for the very best results.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,455 posts
 
What is the input impedance of your Viva amps? Usually tube amps are 100k ohms or so?

I have owned both the Samsons and Mac 402 amps so I know how they differ. The Mac amps sound rather dull and lifeless compared to the Samson amps. I liked the 402, but my point is still accurate. The Samson amps offer improved resolution, detail, imaging and jump factor. The Samson amps also have tighter, more articulate bass. The 402 has a nice big and warm sound. The 402 is like taking a warm bath.

The Samson amps do have the ability to sound intimate like a SET amp, however they don't quite match the body, texture, tone and 3D dimension of a great SET amp. The Samson amps will play music with a greater sense of scale, impact and ease compared to your Viva amps however.
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