Should I Try a Tube Preamp?

I'm like you. I had a variety of solid state preamps to run with my B & K ST-202. I remember reading Sam's Space in Stereophile several years ago about using a tube preamp with his ST-140. I made the switch about a month ago with a Lazarus Cascade Basic & what a difference! You won't believe your listening to the same music! I'm hearing things I never knew were there! So, yes, go for it! Only your ears can tell you you made a good decision. I spent $400 on my Lazarus and it's money well spent. Good Luck, Matt

all tube preamps are not created equal. some of the newer designs sound like solid state. for example, i reviewed a recent mcintosh tube preamp and called the company to suggest that i could not identify and tube-like charcter and a technician siad the preamp was designed to be as "neutral" as possible, i don;t remember the model number, but it used 2 12ax7 in the line section and 2 12ax7 in the phono section. retail price was about $3900.

then there is the vintage tube sound--i.e, having a euphonic coloration, but clearly inaccurate by todays's standards.

so when discsussing tube preamps, the degree of tube flavor is an important consideration.

Mr Tennis: When it comes to tube gear, you frequently focus on the tonal colorations of such products. But this is only one area where tube gear is often different from solid state. And in many modern tube products, the tonality maybe be very similar to solid state products. But tonal colorations is not at all what I am after when I evaluate tube products.

I run with the Aria WV5 XL preamp and this unit does not have the classic tube tonal (euphonic) colorations. What it does do that virtually no solid state products can do, and that which very very few tube products can do, is render decays and harmonic overtones in a most natural way....and with awesome clarity to boot. THIS, the portrayal of space, is the reason to run with tube preamps.

When you "reviewed" the Mcintosh preamp, you heard absolutely no "tube-like character" such as prolonged decays or ambient information compared to the typically sterile solid state line stage? Really?

when i reviewed the mcintosh preamp, i could not identify any "tube-like" character, as you have indicated, jafox.

in fact the company's philosophy for the design of that preamp--it was a few years old, was that of neutrality. the technician i spoke to said it could be characterized as solid state , but without the edge and other solid state ills.

it was not sterile sounding, but there was no bloom, even after replacing the tubes with nos.

i have heard other modern tube components have a non-tube sound, without any of the ills of solid state.

i felt the preamp was highly resolving for a tube component and, as a reviewer, a useful tool for uncovering flaws in other equipment, but not enjoyable for continuous listening..

there are many tube preamps and each designer balances his/her personal taste and idea of what the component should sound like with its ability to attract sales.

you are right regarding my penchant for coloration.

i recently had my amp rebiased and repaired. boy was i surprised. my system is more resolving. i would have to make some changes in order to "color" it. at the moment, since i am reviewing several hdmi cables between my pas audio perfect wave transport and dac, i am leaving it alone.

incidentally, i am using a passive bent tvc preamp. i have a tube preamp which is more colored, but it is not suitable for reviewing.

sorry to go off on a tangent, but indirectly i have suggested that a passive preamp may be preferable to some tube preamps.