Tube Pre for Klipschorn

For those that are technically minded and interested in highly advanced tube designs that are both linear and built with common sense , try taking a look at Norm Koren's website. Just bring your "audiophile approved bullet-proof vests" with you as he's going to take a few pot-shots at those that are "tweak-o-philes".

Once you get past the initial "slagging" on the home page, i think that you'll find that Norm tries to design products that offer the best of both worlds i.e. the sonic characteristics of tubes with the linearity, low distortion and bandwidth of SS. The "extra cool part" about this is that he does so without any "trick" or custom made parts, so one can duplicate the circuits that he does use at very reasonable cost. One can even upgrade the components used to "tweaky audiophile" status if you feel the need.

Personally, i like Norm's "no nonsense / common sense" approach but have to disagree with some of his comments, especially those regarding passive parts quality and tweaking. Then again, if you could find someone that agreed with you on EVERY subject that you discussed, you should probably marry that person : ) Sean
>

Marco,

I didn't get a name at Quicksilver when I called, but the person told me that the Quicksilver Fullfunction pre was not a good match with the K-horns because of the noise factor. I ask if this was just his preamp or would it be different with others like CJ and AR. He stated the noise would be there, but it could be more or less with other brands. He also stated that noise would be an issue with normal PP tube amps as well, but a combination of their horn with the Fullfunction pre (or others) would probably work due to the fact the the horn amp has less gain. The gain on my pre is 39db @ 1Kz, so I'm thinking a different pre might help a bit. When I was using the pre with Electrostacs, it was great, because they are very inefficient, so the gain really helped. Also, I have tried different tubes with the same results. I using a RCA 12FQ7, Telefunk 12AX7, and Mullard 12AU7.

Sean,

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the web site; I'm always interested in hearing others opinions.

Calvin

Wow, that's a surprising input on the compatibility issue. I'll have to check in with my friend as he's never mentioned that issue to me and I know he has Khorns (as well as Belles and LaScalas). Glad you were able to get some input from the good folks there. The gain on your pre is significantly higher than mine (mine is 18db unbalanced, and 24db balanced on my work system going into the Mini-Mites pushing Heresy's which are only 94db efficient). I'm not sure what the gain is at home with my Cary SLP-50A. The only noise issue I have is with my Sonic Frontiers SFP-1 phono stage which has a 37db output in the MM stage which I'm using. With that I have identical tube noise issues to what you describe with all kinds of tube combinations. This is going through the Mini-Mites which have the 18db higher gain then the Horn-Mono's (in my work system). I'll let you know if I hear back from my friend to see if he has similar issues. Thanks for posting your findings as it is useful information to me with my Sonic Frontiers issue!

Marco

Has anyone out there tried pure class A Solid State gear with their Khorns? I have heard that pure class A S/S can sound like "tubes without tears", ie maintenance, etc. Any opinions on this?

I've used various Mosfet based amps on several different pairs of Klipsch products with different levels of performance. With a modified B&K, the system was actually pretty dark sounding ( believe it or not ). With a Perreaux, the sound was both powerful and more tonally balanced but lacked open-ness and top end "sparkle". Using them with a Class A Forte' 1A, the sound was lean but not hard sounding. With a Classe' 70, the sound was VERY lean, bright and grating sounding. Other than that, i would think that the Pass Aleph series, Ayre and a handful of other SS amps might be good candidates for K-horns or other Klipsch "classics". Sean
>