Vinyl -n- Tubes

Niteshade · « **on:** 16 Aug 2010, 01:14 pm »

Some things go together sooo well!

Vinyl and tubes are one of them!

What's your configuration?

100% Tube, Tube pre & phono pre, Tube phono pre & SS amp & preamp...etc...

A little off topic- but I **LOVE** my tube Ampex reel to reel!

dangerbird · « **Reply #1 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 02:30 pm »

I'm in the SUT/SS Phono pre--tubed pre--tube amp---toober camp.
My cinemag/dynavecter P-75 is just so sweet right now.I have an old Wright WLA 12a pre amp pushing some Quicksilver Mono-M-80's.
I finally modded my "Super It" to death.

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #2 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 02:56 pm »

Tube all the way, Baby! I have a nice Pass Aleph Os Class A SS amp that hardly gets any play. I have been using an SS phono stage (Ray Samuels Nighthawk) over the tube phono sections in my full function pres but have just found a tubed full function and I like it's phono stage very much. Have to do a shootout to see if it will replace the Nighthawk though.

Whitese · « **Reply #3 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 03:00 pm »

I have Thorens TD166 MKII going through a Hadley 621 SS preamp (for now), feeding a pair of Pilot AA-904 monos (KT66, 6SN7, 5U4) or Radio Craftsman C500 (KT66, 6SN7, 5V4), or Pilot SA-232 (EL84)...speakers are IMF TLS-580 or JBL L96.

Its a divine combo...My mono rig is a Fisher RT-70 tube tuner/pre and one of the monoblocks.

BobRex · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Aug 2010, 03:06 pm »

VPI HW19 / Alphason 1000 / Van den Hul Frog into a Herron VTPH1-MC into a Joule Electra LA100Mk3 into a Wellborne Moondog for mids and highs and a Dayton plate amp for bass.

So the front end is tubes for the most part except for that little j-fet in the Herron moving coil stage. Hmmm, maybe I should disable the fet and run a SUT.

Niteshade · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 10:31 am »

I don't know- That sounds like a good place for a J FET. I've designed around FET's before and love how they operate where low noise & high sensitivity is required.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 05:09 pm »

Solid State, (true dual mono straight back to the dual power supplies), Full Functioned Preamp with phono.....and twin monoblock (voltage regulated) tube amps.

Short signal paths introduce the least amount of noise, SS amplifies eeny-weeny cartridge voltages cleaner than tubes can or do.....and voltage regulated tube amps add that tube elan on the finish (where gain is lower than in the preamp stages).

Mated to an appropriate loudspeaker.....it's the best combo I've found after years of tinkering.

John

Niteshade · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 Aug 2010, 10:49 pm »

Thermal noise or noise generated by anything is an issue with high gain amps. I have been successful in reducing 'tube rush' in the new SE upgrades to a negligible amount. Finding where a tube runs nominally is a large factor in reducing system noise and increasing performance. Tubes are great because there are some many ways one can choose to operate them without damaging a system. What separates one amp's performance from another is how a specific operational point is taken advantage of. I have found this analogous to finding the perfect tire pressure for hauling X amount of pounds with the truck. There are allot of usable pressure variations, but only a few that work exceptionally well.