Elydaman Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 For as long as I have heard, experts on the Khorn have always said that tubes are the was to go for the very best of sound. I am thinking of "upgrading" to tubes but I have a very high investment in IC preamp and 5 channel amp. How would I go about being able to use tubes for 2 channel music, but also 5.1 DTS etc. since my Khorns are the mains in my Home Theater? BTW Does anyone know about the company TRANSCENDENT SOUND who build tube amps and also sell DIY kits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 You could do it a variety of ways. One option is to get a tube pre that has a HT bypass and decide on a tube amp that would work for both HT and 2-channel. I own a Peach (tube pre) which works well for this application, but there are a number of other tube pres with this feature. I run my Belles as mains in my 5.1 system powered off of a tube amp (Marantz 8B) and with the Peach pre. The Peach's HT bypass setting allows my Classe pre to send the signal to my Belles' tube amp while in 5.1 yet in normal Peach mode, the tube pre acts on its own. The alternative is to run different preamps and amps for HT and 2-channel and to switch between both with a Niles switcher DPS-1 (which allows two amps to be run to a set of speakers). That way, you could run your 5.1 and amp to your K-horns in HT mode and then switch them over to a nice tube integrated amp in two-channel. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgeraci Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Drat, double post. Carl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 That is exactly what I am doing. I have a two-channel all-tube setup that is augmented with a 5.1 HT system. I simply have a HT receiver that has pre-outs for the front two channels. I then connect the pre-outs to one of the inputs on the 2-channel preamp. That's all it takes. I just have to try to set the volume on the 2-channel preamp at the same level each time. Of course if you have the HT bypass option, that isn't a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 At present my tube amp is in semi permanent retirement. I'm running my Klipschorns with a 50 watt per channel solid state intergrated amp for my two channel home theatre. My Klipschorns still sound like Klipschorns. You don't have to go tube if you don't want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doudou Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 what about 5 monobloc tube amp and a solidstate preamp? (it s a question not an answer, one of my friend want to make a tube amplified home theatre with the 5 RF35 and a nad amp/preamp he already got and a nad amp/preamp) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 ---------------- On 2/24/2005 5:21:37 AM doudou wrote: what about 5 monobloc tube amp and a solidstate preamp? (it s a question not an answer, one of my friend want to make a tube amplified home theatre with the 5 RF35 and a nad amp/preamp he already got and a nad amp/preamp) ---------------- I think one of the things we could all agree on from our get together at Andys is that the preamp determins the sound of the system. You could hook things up this way, but I doubt there will be near the same difference in sound as if you went with tube preamps and either a SS or tube amp. Tough to do 5 mono preamps in a ht setup You could also get a full tube 2 ch rig and (GASP) use a speaker switch to choose HT or 2 ch for the Khorns. As has been said, there are many options. The best one is the one that works for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doudou Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 ---------------- On 2/24/2005 8:35:37 AM Cal Blacksmith wrote: I think one of the things we could all agree on from our get together at Andys is that the preamp determins the sound of the system. ---------------- that s what i tought, a SS preamp will "degrade" the quality of the tube amp. thanx Blacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 I also use the Niles switchbox to flip from HT to 2-channel. Works great. I've never had any luck combining SS and tubes so I like to keep them seperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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