2. amps-preamps
  3. 1334189112

what is a good tube pre amp out there...........

i have and love the conrad johnson tube sound. i have a pv10 and pv12, both sound fantastic. but how do i know if its the best if i have never tried any thing else. my associate equipment is: alon 4 speakers on the 12 and axiom m80's on the other, cj 2300a and 2500a power amps, rotel 975 and nad 545eee cd players, interconnect are tara labs vector 1 on both. audioquest speaker wire on the 10 and some home mades from axiom speaker co on the other. i heard about vtl, bat and others, please give me the pro's and con's of each you feel is best. also some fyi on proper amp/pre matching that im just learning about. thank s in advance.
kennesawjet
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
Why not consider upgrading in the CJ line?
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I went from a PV-10 to a premier 17 then on to the premier 16 and in each case the improvement was dramatic in all areas. So I would suggest you stay within the cj line if that is the sonic character you enjoy.

Cary makes outstanding tubed preamps as well so you might try one of theirs. Although they have what I would call a similar sonic signiture to cj. If you are looking for something more on the anayltic side then ARC or BAT may be worth a try. It really depends on what you are trying to achieve or improve over what you have.

Chuck
kennesawjet OP
202 posts
 
steve isnt this the whole idea of the thread.........
metman
233 posts
 
I would check out the Purity line from Bill Baker
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Chuck, I find it interesting that you find BAT analytical. I've owned many pieces of BAT gear, but I find that they are a bit too dark for my system. Certainly not as dark as CJ or Cary, but the high's are rolled off compared to ARC or VAC. I have seen many people who, like yourself have claimed BAT to be bright or analytical, I've also seen many like myself claim that BAT is too dark. Maybe BAT is the only truely neutral line out there, who knows?

So it's all system dependant, I tend to buy warm and musical speakers, when I combine them with warm and musical electronics I find that too much of a good thing is bad. So CJ, Cary and BAT don't work for me. ARC does, but I prefer VAC.
If the OP loves the CJ sound as he states, he should leave well enough alone and just enjoy the music. Or, if he feels he MUST spend some more money, he should move up within the CJ line. Don't underestimate the joy of leaving well enough alone. :)

Cheers,
John
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