Stovebolt6 Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 Does using a solid state pre-amp eliminate the advantages of a tube amplifier? I am considering bi-amping, tubes for HF and SS for LF. What I am wondering is will it be worth while with all that solid state gear in the signal path? (SS preamp, electronic cross, and SS amp for LF) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 Why not just use a SS amp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 In my mind (and actual experimentation), yes ... You're feeding a SS-amplified signal from your pre-amp into a tube amp. I think what you're going to hear is solid state ... I ultimately sold my HT tube amps and just ran off the Denon. Sound was just about identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minn_male42 Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 a tube amp sounds very different than a SS amp - at least with klipsch speakers.... i'm using a dynaco sca-35 tube amp with a pioneer elite receiver preamp section.... it produces a very different....much improved sound with my klf-30's.... i had been using a carver tfm-25 amp prior to this.... the tube amp is a definite upgrade for me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Disc Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 If you are to have a mixed SS and Tube setup. It's best to have a Tube Pre-amp. Don't underestimate the importance of a good pre-amp. Many solid-state preamps tend to make the treble dry, etched and metallic. Steely-souding strings, unnatural vocals (s and sh sounds). A natural-sounding tubed preamplifier can tend to ameliorate the system's tendency toward these amusical characteristics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 I agree with Chris and Tim here -- but Russ' post should give one pause. What Chris and Tim said is for the most part true. I've done it myself, and when you think about it -- it doesn't make a damn bit of sense. The speakers are hanging directly off of the amplifer, and if anything -- one would think a tube amp and SS preamp would sound more "tube-like" than doing the reverse. Experience doesn't bear that out however. Instead, what we find is that a good tube preamp, pushing the source signal to a SS amp -- can sound very tube-like. But Russ is seeing the obvious here: That in spite of ending up with a HF sonic signature more comparable to SS -- the fact that you would be using a tube amp means the signal would be devoid of the grain hash normally propogated by SS. I think getting tubes anywhere into a system is more times than not -- a very good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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