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Adding tubes to SS system-Tube Preamp Amp or Int?

After reading up on tube gear, I am intrigued to try out tubes for the first time in my 2-channel system. As of right now, it is all solid state - I recently got hold of a Parasound JC2 preamp and A21 amp.

I'd like to incorporate something 'tubey' in there just to see for myself what the sound will be like. I am totally new to this, so I dont know where to begin. But I know that I only want to buy a single component for now, so...

Do you folks have an opinion on whether it would be 'better' in any way to use a tube preamp connected to the Parasound A21 amp vs a tube amp connected to the Parasound JC2 preamp? For those of you that love tubes, which method do you think would give you more of the 'tube sound'?

Another consideration - my JC2 is setup with an HT bypass, but since I am not using HT in this system yet, I am thinking it might be a neat option to find a tube preamp, send it through the JC2 bypass directly into the A21 amp. That way, there will be no needed movement of cables (connecting/disconnecting) in order to utilize both the solid state and tube components.

If those are both just bad or suboptimal choices, maybe I'll just look for an integrated tube amp? But again, I want to leave it at one component for now. Just want to start limiting my choices to one of the 3.
nnck
sufentanil's avatar
sufentanil
776 posts
 
I feel I might be in the minority, but I think that you generally get more of the benefit of tubes by having them in the amp section, rather than the preamp section. That said, having both tube preamp and amp (or an all-tube integrated) might be optimal.

But to start, I would go with a tube amp. Just make sure the tube amp will mate well with your speakers.

Michael
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
I have to disagree with Michael about a newbie starting off with a tube amp
(The exception is if a GOOD dealer is locally available to work with a new to tubes customer)
A tube amp is just a big deal. True it is the best to 'really' get tube sound, but it is a lot of 'tubeyness' for a new to tubes person to start with.
On the other hand the OP has a great SS preamp already.
The OP idea of using both a tube and the Parasound JC2 is decent.
I have several preamps and the main Bryston BP-26 has both an Audio Research SP-15 I use only for it'e tubed phono section (going into the Bryston) and also a VAC Standard (4 tubes) preamp I use as a 'tube buffer' from my DAC to the Bryston BP-26 via the VAC Standard.
I like the result very much, and get to keep three great preamps around in use.
aaronmadler
94 posts
 
What about getting the Eastern Electric Minimax Tube DAC? You'll get a great flavor with one tube thrown into the mix. $770 brand new delivered to your door. The EE dac exceeded the quality of another dac that I owned at more than triple the price.
djohnson54
372 posts
 
Another solution might be to find one of the tube buffers that were sold for CD players (Musical Fidelity X-10) and try that. They still come up used here from time to time and I'm sure that somebody is still making new ones (not the X-10). This is probably the least expensive way to try out tubes. If you have a processor loop, you could even try it there to "add tubes" to all of your source components.
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