Audio Horizons TP 2.0 Preamplifier

LA45 I found the Siemans they sent with the preamp to be wonderful, and in fact the stock EH tubes are quite good too. The unit is just so awesome that I wanted to try the NOS tubes suggested just to see if even more performance is possible. I will be trying my NOS and will report the comparision in about a week. Sherod and others may already be able to answer your question in more detail but the preamp definitely sounds great without the NOS treasure hunt. If I played it even with the stock EH it was a dramatic improvement over any other preamp I had heard.

I agree with Gammajo. The stock tubes in the preamp are very good and provide wonderful musicality. The upgraded tubes do make an improvement, but depending on the resolution of the rest of your system, the difference isn't huge. For me, the early 60's Siemens grey plate CCa tubes just fine-tuned the overall sound to give me the ultimate tone and timber of instruments. The preamp is so transparent that cable and power cord additions can clearly be heard. I recommend that you start out with the stock tubes, or Joseph's upgraded Siemens, then live with and enjoy the sound for a while. Experiment with tweaking the cables, power cords, and room acoustics until you've extracted the best sound possible. Then find a hopefully good deal on the early Siemens CCa( preferably in tube locations 1 and 3) and you'll hear the magic of Joseph's preamp more clearly. Enjoy the journey and happy listening.

By the way, the best analog interconnects that I've ever found and unfortunately they aren't well known, are the silly sounding Chinchilla interconnects from Von Gaylord Audio. They are expensive and a used pair are rare( I'm looking for one more pair for my Cd player if anyone has some for sale)The best power cord so far that I've found to mate with my preamp is the Electraglide Epiphany X. Here is a review of the Chinchilla interconnects:

http://iar-80.com/page90.html

I just thought that while I was on a roll tonight, I'd put in an addendum that as good as Joseph's preamp is, his vintage tuner upgrades are equally impressive. If by sheer luck that any Audiogon members happen to live in an area where they have a good NPR( National Public radio) station which is minimally compressed, have a decent antenna, and if you like some really great live jazz and classical broadcasts, and you just happen to have an old decent tuner either sitting idly in your system or gathering dust in your closet, send it to Joseph for his $350.00 refurbishing and be prepared to have an enlightening experience and a new regular source to listen to. Until I find another Chinchilla for my cd player, I've been staying up many late night hours enjoying my Joseph-tweaked 1977 Citation Eighteen tuner.

Grannyring,
A friend bought some myrtle wood on Ebay and cut the blocks for me.