olds1959special Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Any fans of a purely solid state setup for Vandersteen's? Or do people generally like tubes? What about tube DACs and pre-amps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 ….. while i am a big fan of tubes… a great designer with ears can wring great …beyond great results with solid state to wit anything Ayre makes including the formidable R series and of course the M5 Vandersteen amplifiers and soon preamp. The details of execution : isolation, power supplies, circuit boards ( no highly variable random point to point ), discrete component selection, innovative circuits, massive overload headroom, protection circuits that don’t derail musicality…… volumes could be writte….. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Both of my Dac - Aesthetix and Lampizator use a tube output… but again R ladder vs other depends on many, many things….. the devil or heaven…..is in the details 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olds1959special Posted April 9 Author Share Posted April 9 (edited) I use solid state amplification and am trying out a new DAC (SMSL SU-1.) I'm wondering if I can go all solid state. My MHDT Lab tube dac can add a touch of fuzziness and I have to turn it up louder to hear the details. Edited April 9 by olds1959special Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWP Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 I use a Music Reference tubed preamp and a Music Reference tubed power amp with my 5As. Roger Modjeski designed and manufactured. Beautiful, magical. John R and Samir were here recently to re-install one of the crossovers I could not get back in, then "re-tuned" the speakers to the room. Samir then played some tracks he knows, and simply said "Wow". John said "that's what tubes can do". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montdj Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 I am using both the EVO 400 pre and a pair for amps. I love the sound of tubes and have had great luck with this combo so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 9 hours ago, RWP said: I use a Music Reference tubed preamp and a Music Reference tubed power amp with my 5As. Roger Modjeski designed and manufactured. Beautiful, magical. John R and Samir were here recently to re-install one of the crossovers I could not get back in, then "re-tuned" the speakers to the room. Samir then played some tracks he knows, and simply said "Wow". John said "that's what tubes can do". Roger was awesome - RIP 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olds1959special Posted April 11 Author Share Posted April 11 I'm using my dac with a tube output again, the mhdt lab Havana. I believe it's an R2R dac too. Otherwise I have no tubes in my system. I tried a delta-sigma dac, the SMSL su-1 briefly with my Vandies, with very good results but after a few days my ears got tired and I went back to the tube dac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huang Posted July 19 Share Posted July 19 I have to agree with Jim, it is all about circuit execution. Richard’s amps are amazing, I am using a McCormack DNA 1 with all the upgrades & am happy as a clam. System synergy is and your personal preference is what should drive the decision. I used to be an only tubes guy, but my view has changed. You can’t tell me a D’Agustino is going sound worse than a Prima Luna amp cause it is SS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 3 hours ago, Huang said: I have to agree with Jim, it is all about circuit execution. Richard’s amps are amazing, I am using a McCormack DNA 1 with all the upgrades & am happy as a clam. System synergy is and your personal preference is what should drive the decision. I used to be an only tubes guy, but my view has changed. You can’t tell me a D’Agustino is going sound worse than a Prima Luna amp cause it is SS. And that the Vandy would also worse because it is also SS… 😃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 My expectations are that the new Vandy SS line stage will displace a very respected tube pre in my system… Hopefully eventually there will also a higher end Vandy preamp with less cost constraints focused on 7 and 7 owners… i would not get too concerned about tubes vs SS… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DividedSky Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Both! I have really loved the combo of a tube preamp and phono stage (Doshi V3.0) with the Vandy M5-HPAs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 On 7/19/2024 at 10:18 PM, TomicTime said: My expectations are that the new Vandy SS line stage will displace a very respected tube pre in my system… Hopefully eventually there will also a higher end Vandy preamp with less cost constraints focused on 7 and 7 owners… i would not get too concerned about tubes vs SS… You are cracking me up Jim. Yes, I agree with you 100%. I can't wait to get the line stage as I have been going direct and missing SO MUCH MUSIC! As for the higher end one, DO NOT JINX the release of the first one!!!!! 😉. Thanks. That is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olds1959special Posted August 10 Author Share Posted August 10 Revisiting this thread. I now favor the convenience and sound of solid state. Tubes can be fun but the added distortion gets tiring after a while. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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