No need to worry about resolution with the right tube pre. Audio Research does a good job here. Some tubophiles though don't them their gear tubey enough but all the resolution, soundstaging and smoothness are there. This is my second tube preamp, ARC LS 16, and the improvement over any SS pre I've used is impressive. I didn't want to lose resolution or dynamics either and none are lost. Everything got better. There's apparently many flavors of tube gear and you'll have to make your own choices. Accuracy of sound would best sum up the ARC pre I now use.
Mating Tube pre's with SS amps
I'm about to buy either a Levinson 334 or Classe 200 mono's. I have a Mccormack RLD-1 pre. After many hours spent in these forum I've decide that a tubed pre will best suit my taste. All sources go through a Levinson 360S. The main reason for choosing tube preamplification is the holographic soundstage the good one's claim to acheive. I've also considered the Pass X1 for this reason. Another reason is that I've noticed many successful systems use this combination of tubes and SS. Now, for those of you who have chosen a similar path, with a neutral amp, can I expect to reap the benefits of tubes, the 3-D image, liquid mids, etc, while maitaining SS control and a degree of neutality over euphonics. I so want a tube pre to ruin the benefits of resolution the 360S brings to the table. Thanks.
- ...
- 13 posts total
- 13 posts total