Tube sites/books, recommendations please

Hi Lensteve

One place to get great info about the different kinds of tubes is Brent Jessee Recording. The format of the site can take some getting used too but there is a lot of good information regarding various tubes.

Also a good read that many follow is FAQ's at Audio Asylum.."Joe's Tube Lore"...More than likely you will be using one of the tubes eveluated..
I personally can relate to his findings on 12ax7,5751 and 12au7 tubes......

Ditto the suggestion for Brent Jesse's informative website. He's also a very good source for reasonably priced, high quality tubes, as is Andy at Vintage Tube Services.

BTW, don't stop with just getting a tubed preamp... you have to go the full distance and switch to a tube amplifier. Trust me... once you try a decent tube amp, you won't ever be satisfied with solid state.

Pdreher, "BTW, don't stop with just getting a tubed preamp... you have to go the full distance and switch to a tube amplifier. Trust me... once you try a decent tube amp, you won't ever be satisfied with solid state."

I completely agree, and feel that's terrific advice. In fact, given the scenario where I could only choose of the two, I'd go with the tube amplifier. No doubt about it. Only a tube amplifier can truly provide the sound of tubes.

Thanks so much for the information thus far. It's certainly possible that one day I will get a tube amp, but recently I acquired a near mint McIntosh 2255 that was built in May of '82. This has been a long time want of mine and to me has a wonderful warm, yet accurate sound that I've always admired. I guess I'll see how it goes with the pre-amp and decide from there...again, thanks for the help.