Just bought a nice tube pre!!!

[jamie2112]

I finally got myself a tube pre by Philly audio. It comes highly rated by several "tube heads" and I got a really great deal. So here goes my entry into tube audio.....I hope there is a noticeable change in my systems sound.....

 

[highfihoney]

Im not familiar with your pre or weather you'll hear a difference or not but i do know tubes are alot of fun,there is nothing like listening to some music with the lights turned down low & warming your hands over a stack of KT88's burning bright

 

[mike c]

how much?

one day, i'd like to try tubes just for the fun of it ... but i figure i won't start unless i find a seriously good deal [throw away amount]

 

[highfihoney]

how much?

one day, i'd like to try tubes just for the fun of it ... but i figure i won't start unless i find a seriously good deal [throw away amount]

Hi mike,your way better off to spend a little time learning resale prices on vintage tube gear they buying a vintage unit when you see one at rock bottom prices,that way you loose nothing at resale & still have all the fun of messing with the gear.

 

[mike c]

HFH, i haven't been looking at the used gears, but it would seem brand new units start at 1k USD?

 

[jamie2112]

how much?

one day, i'd like to try tubes just for the fun of it ... but i figure i won't start unless i find a seriously good deal [throw away amount]

I got it for 299 shipped and retail was 850 on it....

 

[mike c]

I got it for 299 shipped and retail was 850 on it....

nice. that's pretty affordable.

pics?

 

[jamie2112]

I will take some and make up a photobucket album
Sorry I have been traveling alot lately and have been
slackin......

 

[dorokusai]

A friend of mine picked up one of those and was real happy with an Adcom combination. It should warm everything up quite nicely.

I think they are out of business........or did they morph into something else?

Mark
Polk Audio CS

 

[fmw]

I ordered a new tube preamp today myself. Only $250. It has a 12AX7 in each channel. But I suspect it isn't what you were looking for. Should be here next week.

 

[jamie2112]

I ordered a new tube preamp today myself. Only $250. It has a 12AX7 in each channel. But I suspect it isn't what you were looking for. Should be here next week.

No but that will do the job as far as the tube warmth.....

 

[jamie2112]

A friend of mine picked up one of those and was real happy with an Adcom combination. It should warm everything up quite nicely.

I think they are out of business........or did they morph into something else?

Mark
Polk Audio CS

The main guy still builds stuff for clients but name is different, and I am waiting on getting his email just in case...

 

[fmw]

No but that will do the job as far as the tube warmth.....

Yes, completely adjustable. It can add any amount of tube distortion from zero to serious clipping with the turn of a knob. It has clipping meters. It also has adjustable input impedance, a very useful feature. Clean it can do 20 hz to 40 khz plus or minus 1 db with .01% distortion. Dirty, the distortion can go up past 15%. Actually, a pretty flexible product for a low price.

 

[gus6464]

Yes, completely adjustable. It can add any amount of tube distortion from zero to serious clipping with the turn of a knob. It has clipping meters. It also has adjustable input impedance, a very useful feature. Clean it can do 20 hz to 40 khz plus or minus 1 db with .01% distortion. Dirty, the distortion can go up past 15%. Actually, a pretty flexible product for a low price.

You can only hook up one source to that thing right?

 

[fmw]

It is a microphone preamp. You can connect either a microphone or a line level signal to each of the two channels. The unit will power condenser microphones.

I was joking around a little. It is true that I ordered one today but it is for the performance/production end of the music chain instead of the consumer/listening end of it.

Being at both ends of the chain gives you an interesting perspective on things. At the other end no one would imagine that an amplifier has a sound. They only worry about power and current delivery. Nobody has heard of bi wiring. Flat frequency response curves are boring and to be avoided. Equalizers and horn speakers are normal and fine. No one is looking for accuracy. Things are manipulated until they appeal to a recording engineer, regardless of what the performance sounded like live.

Then at the other end everyone wants accuracy and to be true to the original performance - as though they could know what the original performanced was like in the first place.

So a preamp like this is used not only to bring the inputs up enough in level to drive a power amp or a recorder but also to color the input that comes from already colored microphones so that it can produce an even more colored result. This particular preamp has a pretty good reputation in its price class. There is a high end also. A good Rupert Neve preamp would set you back $4000 to $6000. You wouldn't want one of these for your home stereo. Trust me on that.

 

[gus6464]

It is a microphone preamp. You can connect either a microphone or a line level signal to each of the two channels. The unit will power condenser microphones.

I was joking around a little. It is true that I ordered one today but it is for the performance/production end of the music chain instead of the consumer/listening end of it.

Being at both ends of the chain gives you an interesting perspective on things. At the other end no one would imagine that an amplifier has a sound. They only worry about power and current delivery. Nobody has heard of bi wiring. Flat frequency response curves are boring and to be avoided. Equalizers and horn speakers are normal and fine. No one is looking for accuracy. Things are manipulated until they appeal to a recording engineer, regardless of what the performance sounded like live.

Then at the other end everyone wants accuracy and to be true to the original performance - as though they could know what the original performanced was like in the first place.

So a preamp like this is used not only to bring the inputs up enough in level to drive a power amp or a recorder but also to color the input that comes from already colored microphones so that it can produce an even more colored result. This particular preamp has a pretty good reputation in its price class. There is a high end also. A good Rupert Neve preamp would set you back $4000 to $6000. You wouldn't want one of these for your home stereo. Trust me on that.

I am getting to the way that I don't really care how many devices I use in the system as long as I get the sound like. Since I will be building a pair of stereo subs soon I have to upgrade my electronics but I just don't see the point in spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on a preamp/amp. I just fail to see how a $140 Denon DRA-297 receiver used as a preamp can sound worse than a $2000 Musical Fidelity/Cambridge/Rotel/etc. if it measures just as good. I am starting to wonder now if I would be better off with a pair of good passive monitors and just tweak the sound to my liking. Although I have no idea where to begin when it comes to studio monitors and which ones are the better ones if I were to spend ~$2000 on a pair. I know most monitors are made for nearfield usage but are there any out there that offer wide dispersion?

 

[fmw]

You're right there. Electronics aren't the place to get better sound. Room acoustics and speakers carry almost all of the sound quality of a home audio system. The electronics aren't a factor as long as they are accurate.

Near field listening has nothing to do with dispersion. It has to do with the distance between speakers and listener. Mixing and mastering are done using near field listening in order to cut out room modes and other acoustic anomalies from the room or venue itself. Recording monitors are simply designed to get as flat a frequency response as possible to be accurate without room acoustics in the picture. This is done so that the mix will sound not as good as it can but as good as it can in the greatest percentage of rooms in which it will played. The typical mixing desk will have a pair of accurate monitors for the mids and highs and a calibrated subwoofer to round out the low end of the frequency response. These speakers are right there at the mixing desk pointed right at the engineer.

Recording monitors have the same amount of tweeter dispersion as home audio speakers do. They even look like typical home audio bookshelf speakers.

 

[gus6464]

You're right there. Electronics aren't the place to get better sound. Room acoustics and speakers carry almost all of the sound quality of a home audio system. The electronics aren't a factor as long as they are accurate.

Near field listening has nothing to do with dispersion. It has to do with the distance between speakers and listener. Mixing and mastering are done using near field listening in order to cut out room modes and other acoustic anomalies from the room or venue itself. Recording monitors are simply designed to get as flat a frequency response as possible to be accurate without room acoustics in the picture. This is done so that the mix will sound not as good as it can but as good as it can in the greatest percentage of rooms in which it will played. The typical mixing desk will have a pair of accurate monitors for the mids and highs and a calibrated subwoofer to round out the low end of the frequency response. These speakers are right there at the mixing desk pointed right at the engineer.

Recording monitors have the same amount of tweeter dispersion as home audio speakers do. They even look like typical home audio bookshelf speakers.

So do you believe that studio monitors offer more performance than similar priced speakers? Will a $2000 studio monitor offer the same performance than a regular speaker at the same price in a non-nearfield environment?

 

[jamie2112]

So do you believe that studio monitors offer more performance than similar priced speakers? Will a $2000 studio monitor offer the same performance than a regular speaker at the same price in a non-nearfield environment?

What do you mean by regular speaker?

 

[fmw]

Sometimes home audio speakers are used as recording monitors. Deutche Grammophon, as an example, uses B&W 801's for the job.

The pro audio world has monitors of all sizes, types and prices just like home audio speakers. I think it is fair to say that you will usually get more speaker for the money with pro audio but you will get some pretty ugly speakers too. They aren't designed to fit your decor. I happen to use recording monitors made by Tannoy for my surround speakers. They perform very well. But they don't have grills in front of them and they are painted. They aren't horrible but they aren't as nice a piano black or walnut home audio speaker. They would make fine main speakers also as long as you supported them with a subwoofer and could stand looking at them.

Some of the recording monitors are nothing short of spectacular. Check out the Genelec line, as an example. They sound as good anything made anywhere. They aren't cheap, however, and they sure aren't pretty.

Some of the sound reinforcement speakers can sound pretty good too. That's what you hear at the movie theater. They could be Altec or Klipsch or JBL usually with horn drivers. I use Electro Voice speakers for my performance rig. They sound Terrific. But they are covered with carpeting and have handles. Not the thing for the living room.

I think for the sake of room decor I would suggest you stay with home audio speakers. Obviously the range of available products is amazing with products to fit anyone.