Tupe Preamp options

to add an pre amp what you need is a Power IN option.
If it is not there, and your Int am has a Passive pre; you can use the normal input with the pot at maximum.

for 350 you need to look at Made in China amps a Opera, Shanling, Eastern Minimax, Xindak, Sheng Ya, Spark to name a few

Viren(delhi) and Siva(bangalore) have tube preamps which they sell at very nice prices.

Both very nice...contact them and you may find what you are looking for.

Manek.

These "Mixed Marriages" often dont work.

'Also cant make silk from a sow's ear'

Half joking ;-)

from your requirement in the CDP thread, maybe you can combine your budgets and get a Tube DAC like the Audionote.. best of both the worlds..

choosing a preamp for an existing setup needs a lot oa auditioning . unless you can get Sivas/Virens preamp for a home audition, it is a game of dice..

The tube-SS combos are not that uncommon and they do give excellent results...faithful highs and mids of the tube and the punchy bass of SS, but like its been pointed out above - matching them is quite important.

Check out Viren's tube pre's if you are in Delhi. I auditioned them in Nov and was really impressed. in fact I'm also contemplating coupling his tube pre with Pulz RS250 SS power but I'm not really sure how that combo might work...Guys, any thoughts on this?

You could also look at a hybrid integrated amps...though I'm not sure if you have any in the budget you have...

About viren's pre + pulz RS250 power why dont you ask viren if the two would gell and make a couple

manek.

Yup...spoke to Viren about coupling his tube pre with a SS power. According to him it would go well with any amp.

Surprisingly, when I tried his tube pre with his own SS pwr, the sound was not that impressive. Maybe my perceptions were tinted from listening to his tube monoblocks which are AWESOME ...but unfortunately beyond my budget at the moment.

For the money you pay for Pulz, the tonality is excellent...so thinking of pairing them up with his pre...going by their charecters, think they make a good match

Most tube preamps with low output impedances (500-600ohms) potentially should gel well with ss power amps with a typical 20-22kohms input impedance. They still need to be tonally matched to specific taste.

When you hear tubes side by side with SS amps I am not surprised that you found the SS amps not too impressive...its just the way tubes are....

I believe......TOOBS rule !

Manek.

Most tube preamps with low output impedances (500-600ohms) potentially should gel well with ss power amps with a typical 20-22kohms input impedance. They still need to be tonally matched to specific taste. When you hear tubes side by side with SS amps I am not surprised that you found the SS amps not too impressive...its just the way tubes are.... I believe......TOOBS rule ! Manek.

Come, come now Manek

Krish,

You are right...I'm probably and unconciously starting a tube v/s ss war again.....sorry didnt mean to do that.

Guys,
Just got Viren's new tube phono pre amp.
Huge transformer! Viren says it could run a power amp.
Dual mono design! Beautifully laid out inside. ( I'm no techie, but I can appreciate beauty!)
And of course valves!
As (bad)luck would have it, am traveling for the next 2 days and can probably set up the system on 26th 0r 27th. Prithvi (as usual!) is helping me.
Will start a new topic to keep you guys informed.
Looking forward to my vinly journey!
Jeeves

Hey jeeves,
Congrats on ur Linn LP12 Sondek & Viren's tube phono pre. Happy have converted you to Vinyl from CD.

Sondek 12! wow! Congrats on your new toys Jeeves...let us know how it goes.

Maybe we could come over and listen to some great music

Arj schrieb:

to add an pre amp what you need is a Power IN option. If it is not there, and your Int am has a Passive pre; you can use the normal input with the pot at maximum. for 350 you need to look at Made in China amps a Opera, Shanling, Eastern Minimax, Xindak, Sheng Ya, Spark to name a few ;)

350US is about 16K Indian. I do not think you will get any of the above mentioned Chinese Pre Amplifiers at those prices. You are open to give it a shot though !!!
The cheapest link on the net I found for Chinese Products [audio related] was kattylinks.com. Just look it up.

BOB