SS Preamp with Tube Amp?

I ran a Klyne 6LX3p pre amp with vtl 225's,manley ref 440/200 and cary slam 100's with excellant results;unless there is a gross mismatch of preamp to amp mating I don't see why your plan would not work;also Buconero117 idea of a loaner from a dealer is not a bad idea.

I believe that Glenn is especially interested in real experiences -- positive or negative as they may be -- that match a Capri pre with tube amps, and with his tube amp in particular.

Unfortunately I have not tried Capri on a tube amp myself, but only on JRDG 7M and JRDG 312, so my comments are partially non helpful.

Sonically, if we make a scale from 0 to 100 for the extreme harsh solid-statish versus clawingly warm tubish sound, the Capri seems to me to fall on the very slightly warm side of neutral at about 53 or 54.

From a compatibility point of view, the Capri presents an output impedance of 40 Ohms single ended and 80 Ohms balanced. This should, at least in principle, make it compatible with most any amps, including most tube devices.

As its gain has a resolution of 0.5dB, there should be no issue ina very gradual volume increase in most situations.

In the end though, there may be no substitution for trhying things out by oneself. . . My experience is that one audiophile's poison tends to be an other one's ambrosia, and viceversa.

G.

I doubt it matters in general.

If you want to bask in tubelike sound, this can probably accomplish that depending on the details but more tubes in the signal path will probably be merrier.

I'm still a bit befuddled by the whole fascination with tubes, though I do appreciate their allure as I am a sufferer as well to some extent.

I've heard very good tube amplification that sounds a lot like SS, but I have yet to hear very good SS amplification that sounds like tubes.

Also, I do not hear a tube-like sound at most good live performances I attend, so my current conclusion is that good sound does not sound like tubes.

My current mindset is perhaps also that tubes are better off being seen but not heard.

I basically agree with what Nsgarch said.

I run my hybrid Lamm M2.1 amplifiers with my solid state Ayre K-1xe preamp and I love the sound. It is very quiet, and yet exhibits a nice touch of that tube sound.

By the way, this has been discussed many, many times here and on Audio Ayslum, so you might want to do a search of both sites and read the lengthy threads and posts, rather than base your decision on just this thread.

FYI, one thing I have come to the conclusion about though, is that it takes a really good solid state preamp, to equal a really good tube preamp. (i.e. Entry level tube preamps seem to be better than entry level solid state amps. At least that is my opinion.)

Good Luck in your search!

I agree with Nsgarch, tube amp has much more influence on the sound than tube pre amp.

I also started with tube pre and solid state power 20 years ago, only when I changed to a tube amp I discovered "tube pre + SS power" is for the wannabe. Same goes for hybrid amp, they only do half of the trick or less.

From impedance perspective, it should not be an issue for most tube amp to preceeded by SS pre amp, but not the other way around. Best option like many suggest is to use tube pre, it will take your system to a whole new level.