[WindowShopper]

Dear friends,
I have been living on Quad amplification or rather shall pen down my
system so to let you have a better understanding & to reply with ease:

- XLO power cables conencting all electronics
- VDH D102 mkiii connecting source, pre, power
- XLO Ultra6 spk cable (no, i didnt like the biwired sound, hence its
a single length)
- 99pre, 909power, Marantz SA 7001
- B&W 805-S

I have heard DIY tube amps and they sounded quite like anyone would
approve of them, myself alike.

Hence was looking for a Tube pre which at the pretext of giving better
imaging should not just go sterile sounding. I have read of some
options discussed in a thread - ''Preamps under usd2k'' but i could
not find answers w.r.t my preference & system, yet i do have noted two
options from there.

To each his own 'ears' and mine like it lush, rich, encapsulating,
something that brings effortless soudstaging (best within the
individual's budget) ..and also separation, detailed yet softer HF and
faster LF handling. Too much to ask for? ..lets see how close can we
get with all our suggestions working in unison.

Many thanks to stop by and be willing to assist.

My regards
Sid
..

member: GLOBAL AUIDOPHILE GROUP (Active audiophile group for
audiophiles on facebook only)

[Audio Empire]

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:28:14 -0700, WindowShopper wrote
(in article ):

Dear friends,
I have been living on Quad amplification or rather shall pen down my
system so to let you have a better understanding & to reply with ease:

- XLO power cables conencting all electronics
- VDH D102 mkiii connecting source, pre, power
- XLO Ultra6 spk cable (no, i didnt like the biwired sound, hence its
a single length)
- 99pre, 909power, Marantz SA 7001
- B&W 805-S

I have heard DIY tube amps and they sounded quite like anyone would
approve of them, myself alike.

Hence was looking for a Tube pre which at the pretext of giving better
imaging should not just go sterile sounding. I have read of some
options discussed in a thread - ''Preamps under usd2k'' but i could
not find answers w.r.t my preference & system, yet i do have noted two
options from there.

To each his own 'ears' and mine like it lush, rich, encapsulating,
something that brings effortless soudstaging (best within the
individual's budget) ..and also separation, detailed yet softer HF and
faster LF handling. Too much to ask for? ..lets see how close can we
get with all our suggestions working in unison.

Many thanks to stop by and be willing to assist.

My regards
Sid
.

member: GLOBAL AUIDOPHILE GROUP (Active audiophile group for
audiophiles on facebook only)

Hmmm. Tubes can be nice. Very euphonic colorations. Many modern tube amps and
pre-amps sound so much like modern transistor gear, that aside from the
characteristic of soft-clipping (buy an amp large enough to not clip under
your particular listening conditions, and that point becomes moot anyway).
there really isn't any real advantage to buying a modern tube amp or preamp.
Of course if you LIKE the tube sound, then stick with the type of tube
equipment that gives one tube sound. That would be vintage stuff or
specialist gear, much of it from China.

On XLO power cords. Let me ask you a question. Do you honestly believe that
after traveling hundreds of miles through transmission lines, passing on the
way through a myriad of step-down transformers and switching yards, and
finally snaking, perhaps hundreds of feet, through your walls to which are
connected fridges, aircon units, oil heater feed pump motors, televisions,
computers, and modern fluorescent bulbs that the last meter or two between
your wall socket and and your hi-fi component makes even the slightest
difference to the quality of the mains power your components are receiving?
It doesn't. Fancy power cords are a waste of money from a technical
standpoint. They cannot clean-up dirty mains current nor, after all that
distance, would they have the slightest effect on "protecting" the current
being fed your gear from noise, as all line noise is already on the mains as
it comes out of the wall. Also, the power transformers in your equipment are
designed to step-up or step-down 50-60 Hz voltage and any noise riding on the
line simply won't be coupled to the secondary side of the power supplies in
your gear because those frequencies are outside of the pass-band of the power
transformer. IOW, you've already got a pretty good mains filter built-in to
your gear! Save your money when it comes to power cords. The ones that ship
with your components are sufficient to the task.

[Harry Lavo]

"WindowShopper" wrote in message
...
Dear friends,
I have been living on Quad amplification or rather shall pen down my
system so to let you have a better understanding & to reply with ease:

- XLO power cables conencting all electronics
- VDH D102 mkiii connecting source, pre, power
- XLO Ultra6 spk cable (no, i didnt like the biwired sound, hence its
a single length)
- 99pre, 909power, Marantz SA 7001
- B&W 805-S

I have heard DIY tube amps and they sounded quite like anyone would
approve of them, myself alike.

Hence was looking for a Tube pre which at the pretext of giving better
imaging should not just go sterile sounding. I have read of some
options discussed in a thread - ''Preamps under usd2k'' but i could
not find answers w.r.t my preference & system, yet i do have noted two
options from there.

To each his own 'ears' and mine like it lush, rich, encapsulating,
something that brings effortless soudstaging (best within the
individual's budget) ..and also separation, detailed yet softer HF and
faster LF handling. Too much to ask for? ..lets see how close can we
get with all our suggestions working in unison.

Many thanks to stop by and be willing to assist.


Used ARC preamps are what come to my mind. For under $2k you should be able
to find SP-6B's, and perhaps even SP-10's. Those are the leading contenders
with the characteristics you seek.

[WindowShopper]

HI,
much appreciate the response by you both.

I have contemplated the passive-pre way for now and been in
discussions with Nicholas Chua @ Promitheus.
Tried to look around for Promitheus Reference - prewowned model, but
could not locate any.
I have hooked a diy passive to my modded 909 and it opened up quite a
bit of the sound stage, but the huge err was that the pot used was 10k
value while the input imp 909 is just the double.
So this time around i am intending to pick the best in the budget.

ARC has a huge repute indeed. I am considering that as well. Looking
at a piece which i can hear first.

Cheers
Sid
..

[ST]

On Jun 30, 9:01=A0pm, WindowShopper wrote:

Hi Sid,

I always believed in solid states but at the insistence of a friend
tried a BC-3 tube preamp. I loved the vocals but at the expense of
weaker bass. Later, I found a thread in audiogon under the post
"preamp deal of the century" and discovered one fine tube preamp
called Supratek Chardonnay for around US2K.

Good luck.

ST

[Dave Cook]

On Jun 27, 6:28=A0am, WindowShopper wrote:
- 99pre, 909power, Marantz SA 7001

The Quad 909 has an input impedance of 20k Ohms, which is too low for
many tube pre-amps. Look for a pre-amp with an output impedance of
about 200 Ohms or less, or that has a design that can handle low
amplifier input impedances. Here's some information I got from
someone at Atmasphe

"the general rule of thumb is 10:1 [amp input impedance to preamp
output impedance], but you see these higher numbers due to the fact
that a lot of tube preamps have a coupling cap at the output that will
limit their low frequency response/impact. Its another way of saying
that their output impedance goes up as you go into the bass
frequencies.

IOW 10:1 is OK as long as the actual output impedance is the same at
all frequencies, which is not the case with a lot of tube preamps.
Either the coupling cap has to be made a lot larger (which reduces
transparency) to deal with 10K at your amp at 20Hz, or done away with
altogether (direct-coupled). With direct-coupling you have no issues
with bass impact at all"

Dave Cook