Use Tube Pre amp or not ?

[lduarte1973]

I own a Cambridge Audio 740A amp and an Arcam Delta 290 amp , both have good treble , enough bass , but has most amplifiers in this price the tone is a bit thin to me , bright . I dont have the skills to modd these amps , so i followed the advice of a friend and bought a Tube pre amplifier , i´m using mullard and brimar ecc82 and ecc83 tubes . Imediately i noticed the difference : bass is so much more powerfull , tone is not that bright anymore , even the mids have more life and dont sound harsh (i listen to rock music loudly). Still if all of this wasn´t enough , the amp (CA 740A) sound so much powerfull now. I see many unskilled people like myself wanting to modd their amps running the risk of damaging them permantely.My question is : Isn't easyer and cheaper to buy a tube pre amp instead of spending 100£ modding your amplifer ?

[Glowbug]

They might not want the added complexity or space requirements that separates entail...although I'm a fan myself

[preiter]

Couple of possibilities here.

You may have had a poor impedance match between your source and your amps. That's exactly when you want an active buffer in between.

You may be fond of the "tube sound" and your new pre-amp added a dose of that into your system.

While it worked out well for you, it's not a blanket solution for everyone. It's often better to try and improve the elements of your sound system than to insert additional components into the signal path.

[ginetto61]

My question is : Isn't easyer and cheaper to buy a tube pre amp instead of spending 100£ modding your amplifer ?[/QUOTE]

Excuse me please, which tube preamp have you bought ?
How have you connected it to the mentioned amps ?
I could tame some harshness in the sound using copper solid core interconnects between the digital source and the amp (I know It seemes silly but this trick worked for me).
And do not confuse less control in the bass with more power ...

Thanks and kind regards,
gino

[lduarte1973]

It´s a small unit i bought from ebay UK , aureavox arcana 81 , and i do use copper solid core interconnects in all connections to the amps.the preamp is connected to the preamp loop of the ca740.24102009823.jpg

[lduarte1973]

Dont get me wrong , i´m in favour of modding , in fact i would love to have my CA740 amp and cd modded , i dont just have the skills to do it.I´m just asking for opinions.The preamp is connect in the CA740 (tape/line) loop

[ginetto61]

Originally Posted by lduarte1973

It´s a small unit i bought from ebay UK , aureavox arcana 81 , and i do use copper solid core interconnects in all connections to the amps.
the preamp is connected to the preamp loop of the ca740.Attachment 144496

Thank you very much Sir.
Nice preamp indeed.
Actually a lot of people use a tube front end with a solid state power stage.
Tubes are often present in digital sources.
My experience is that with analog source the problems are fewer.
With digital the tubes seem to giv a benefit in terms of sound
Kind regards,
gino