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Tube amp with solid state pre amp

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jessearias:
I know the tube guys are probably rolling over right now,  :shock: but can you use a tube amp with a solid state pre amp.  Pros?  :)  Cons :(?

I am thinking of biting the bullet and upgrading to a tube amp, but would like to use the JC2BP as my pre.

rollo:
Why certainly you can. Low noise of SS preamp will make a good match. I would look for a tubed amp that has a complementing character to the preamp. The Tritons at 91db will need some power. 100W would be my recommendation. Tube Watts can get expensive. Look at Audio Hungary if interested.


charles

tmazz:
Sure you can do that. Of course l the trick will be to find a tube amp that will get along nicely with your your current pre, but that would apply to any Pre-Power Amp combo regardless of what technologies either of them employ.

I spent many years running a tubed pre (ARC SP-( with solid state and hybrid amps (Moscode 600 & Classe Twenty Five.) I think tat this is the easiest and most economical way to inject some "tube sound" into your system, especially if you have speakers that require high wattage.

I eventually got a tube amp (ARC VT-200, which sounds amazing, but it needs 26 tubes to put out the 200 watts I needed which can get very pricey to run over the long term.) On the other hand the SP-9 has only 2 6dj8s which sets me back about $50 for a full retube.

And in addition to just replacing tubes as the wear out, repairs to a tube power amp can get pricey as well since because of the higher B+ voltages required to operate power output tubes, when a tube amp does fail, it very often does so in a big way.

That said, in spite of the headaches and costs involved with them IMO, there is nothing like a good tube amp. Recent solid state designs are getting closer than they used to be, but I am still a fan of that tube magic. (YMMV)

That said, I still think getting a good synergistic match among the Pre amp, Power amp and the speakers is still more important than what technologies you end up using

rollo:
 Forgot to mention input impedance of Amp. Should be a minimum of 10 times the preamp output impedance. Look for an amp that offers 100K input.


charles

Brap:
I run a Parasound Halo P-5 to a Bob Latino Dynaco ST-70 -- works for me.

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