Posted by HenryW [ 65.64.147.97 ] on December 29, 2003 at 15:04:10:
In Reply to: tube amps should have tube pre-amps ? posted by jim denton on December 29, 2003 at 13:35:11:
Many of the popular integrated tube amps are SS to tube in one box. The purist are for tube -tube because of their mantra that by the very nature of electronic translations noise is introduced at a much greater level than with the less complicated path take by tube based units.
The answer is really difficult to say for sure. Mismatched equipment can happen regardless of purity and some combinations just flat out sound bad. The good news is you can play around and find out for yourself - since most of us color our solutions on what sounds best to us there is rarely a holy grail.
I have a very pleasant sound with SS serving as a pre, however it does seem somewhat brighter than the tube- tube set ups I have heard. The interesting part is I prefer that brighter sound with the blending smoothness - to each their own...