[GlennDog]

no intension of derailing the thread, but this does involve a Cary SLP-05 pre amp (9 tubes including rectifier) feeding hot rodded Rogue M-180 monos that have been upgraded to "Dark" (7 tubes each)

I do not think you can wrong with either of the above. Tubes in the chain do make a difference (depending on your set up)

I'm kicking myself for not jumping on the red BePure 2s that just shipped to the southern hemisphere ... THAT must have cost a pretty penny

anywho, Rogue and Cary are providing exceptional energy/synergy to my Salk HT2-TLs.

SQ is clear concise and Oh soo sweet

Tubes??  Go For It !

[hoard]

After searching and taking this thread in. I bought a Primaluna, yep.
I ordered it on Fri and it shipped, will have it Mon, pretty dam fast
EVO300
The Cary was more $ for the Sli80 with all the good stuff added, and once you add anything you can't do a 30 day trial
the Sli100 was about the same price, again, add anything, no trial, so no,
the Primaluna has a lot of built in good stuff and a 60 day trial, don't like it, send it back, pretty easy decision.
I asked Klaus about Primaluna when I was buying his stuff, he said, (good stuff) I value his opinion. I think he makes the best ss amps money can buy, and have no thoughts of selling my excellent Odyssey amps
A lot of choices, but the Primaluna felt the safest

[SlushPuppy]

After searching and taking this thread in. I bought a Primaluna, yep.
I ordered it on Fri and it shipped, will have it Mon, pretty dam fast
EVO300
The Cary was more $ for the Sli80 with all the good stuff added, and once you add anything you can't do a 30 day trial
the Sli100 was about the same price, again, add anything, no trial, so no,
the Primaluna has a lot of built in good stuff and a 60 day trial, don't like it, send it back, pretty easy decision.
I asked Klaus about Primaluna when I was buying his stuff, he said, (good stuff) I value his opinion. I think he makes the best ss amps money can buy, and have no thoughts of selling my excellent Odyssey amps
A lot of choices, but the Primaluna felt the safest

Nice choice! I had a Primaluna integrated before moving to India two years ago. I only sold it because the power here is terrible and I didn't want to risk killing it with multiple power spikes and outages. My best friend currently owns (and loves) it.

I did several months of tube swaps to try and find the best sound for my GoldenEar One.R loudspeakers. I used every power tube from the stock EL-34's to KT-150's, and after many exhausting months of trial and error I found that Tung-Sol 7581A's were amazing! They just sounded "right". Vintage Brimar's up front sealed the deal. I never felt the urge to swap tubes again. Please update us on the sound when things get settled in.

Cheers!

[JCarney]

Congrats on the new incoming Primaluna. Let us know how you like it.

JCarney

[hoard]

Rshorb having good luck with lower wattage tubes with the Bepure2 made the choice easier, and the 60 day trial is
pretty excited to hear these with tube power

[Rshorb]

Rshorb having good luck with lower wattage tubes with the Bepure2 made the choice easier, and the 60 day trial is
pretty excited to hear these with tube power

Glad I could help out where I can.

[abd1]

Congrats on the Primaluna. The Dialogue One integrated I had was my gateway into tube amps. I've now had at least 6-7 different amps but loved that first PL so much I also got a used Evo300 amp and I'm currently using it with no plans to ever get rid of it. I think the 300 will have plenty of power and since you only need 4 power tubes you'll have a lot of options for tube rolling (EL34 and KT88 still my favs). I also recommend upgrading the front two driver tubes. Just beware the tube rabbit hole you're about to go down!

[abd1]

I did several months of tube swaps to try and find the best sound for my GoldenEar One.R loudspeakers. I used every power tube from the stock EL-34's to KT-150's, and after many exhausting months of trial and error I found that Tung-Sol 7581A's were amazing! They just sounded "right". Vintage Brimar's up front sealed the deal. I never felt the urge to swap tubes again. Please update us on the sound when things get settled in.

Cheers!

I prefer the KT88, EL34, KT77, and then 7581 in that order. Never warmed to KT120 or 150s. The 7581 is the bargain champ though. Very well balanced and great price. IF you can find the Sophia Electric blue glass EL34's, they are special sounding.

@hoard -- have you had a chance to listen to the PL yet?

[hoard]

Got a couple hours of music in, sounds really good, better? not sure, different yes, too early for my ears to tell
I don't even have much time on the speakers yet either.
abd1 I hope this is not the Gateway to more amps, trying to stop

[SlushPuppy]

I prefer the KT88, EL34, KT77, and then 7581 in that order. Never warmed to KT120 or 150s. The 7581 is the bargain champ though. Very well balanced and great price. IF you can find the Sophia Electric blue glass EL34's, they are special sounding.

When I did my listening sessions my two favorite tubes were the KT-77's and the 7581a's. I never tried KT-88's. For me, and on my speakers, the KT-77's were missing a bit of upper midrange bloom (I think that's the correct word to describe it). The 7581a's sounded best in that area that I'm really sensitive to. I sold my amp to my best friend before moving to India two years ago. He thinks just the opposite. He likes the KT-77's a little better and for the same reason. They are both fantastic tubes and really made that amp sound special. I haven't tried the Sophia Electric blue glass EL34's, but I am running Psvane EL34PH's in a LSA VT-70 Integrated I bought about a year ago when I missed having tubes in my system. They sound way better than the stock Psvane tubes it ships with. Pricey though and a pain to get through India customs. 30 day wait and the duty was 60% !!!

[Rocket]

Hi,

Just thinking about the preceding posts etc. What are we after when it comes to sound quality in your system? What is your preference? We all hear something different so you really need to know what your after when it comes to hifi components.  I've had a lot of gear in my system over the years. Its my hobby...

I do know that Salk Sound speakers are unique in the hifi world due to their sound quality and finishes. That is just my opinion though .

I value transparency above everything and I've tried the magic tube preamp/ss amplifiers  for many years. IMHO It all comes down to  the best sound quality you can afford. Does it really matter if it is SS or Tube??  I am.using SST Ambrosia preamp (with phono stage) and ampzills 2000 mono blocks and I"m more than happy with their performance but that is based on my listening preference and what I can afford.  I've recently come across Naim Audio products which I've heard so much about over the years but I've never had any experience until recently. So many products to chose from...

So I think you really really need to listen to this gear in your own hifi system for an extended period of time and live with it for a while.

Good luck with whatever choice you make .

Cheers Rod

[abd1]

When I did my listening sessions my two favorite tubes were the KT-77's and the 7581a's. I never tried KT-88's. For me, and on my speakers, the KT-77's were missing a bit of upper midrange bloom (I think that's the correct word to describe it). The 7581a's sounded best in that area that I'm really sensitive to. I sold my amp to my best friend before moving to India two years ago. He thinks just the opposite. He likes the KT-77's a little better and for the same reason. They are both fantastic tubes and really made that amp sound special. I haven't tried the Sophia Electric blue glass EL34's, but I am running Psvane EL34PH's in a LSA VT-70 Integrated I bought about a year ago when I missed having tubes in my system. They sound way better than the stock Psvane tubes it ships with. Pricey though and a pain to get through India customs. 30 day wait and the duty was 60% !!!

I have those Psvane EL34PH's as well and they're excellent too. I could easily live with the 7581 and to me your description of the KT77 is applicable, but to me its a bit cleaner and more articulate than the EL34, with a touch more zip in the sound, but not as robust as the KT88. That LSA looks like a great bargain. I also have a Line Magnetic LM845, but I don't want to hijack this thread....

@Rocket.... I totally agree. Everyone has their favorite flavor of ice cream, which to me is what we're kind of talking about here. To me different tubes are like the toppings on the ice cream. I just know for me that I never understood the draw of tube amps and couldn't understand why someone would pay so much for a "low powered" amp that requires maintenance. I then I heard one and nothing was the same for me moving forward. I also learned that WPC is probably one of the most overrated KPI's in audio. So much of amp preference is speaker matching. One of the great things with the Bepure 2 is they're very versatile and can be used with almost any amp.

[Rocket]

Hi,

I know what your saying about watts etc. and kpi's.  I bought my SST Ampzilla mono blocks specifically to power my Salk sound HT3's. They sounded amazing but the HT3's don't fit my room and that is why I've purchased Bepure 2's. But 300 watts is way overkill for the Bepure 2 speakers but I've invested so much money in my amps I'm not willing to sell them lol.

Cheers Rod

[jsalk]

Hi,

But 300 watts is way overkill for the Bepure 2 speakers but I've invested so much money in my amps I'm not willing to sell them lol.

Cheers Rod

Rod -

No such thing as too much power.  You won't be using as much, so things will remain pristine with all that headroom.  Should sound great!

- Jim

[Saturn94]

Rod -

No such thing as too much power.  You won't be using as much, so things will remain pristine with all that headroom.  Should sound great!

- Jim

 

[hoard]

Rod -

No such thing as too much power.  You won't be using as much, so things will remain pristine with all that headroom.  Should sound great!

- Jim

When the speaker guy tells you that, you know you bought the right speakers