• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

What is the best cheap tube pre-amp?

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#21
I doubt that adding a cheap tube preamp or buffer will solve the problem. Amplifier SE with a few W per channel (admittedly excellent looking), small speakers, DAC we don't know which one it is? If it's some cheap Topping and the like, then they sound like that, boring and without dynamics. Even a software player can sound boring. He should experiment with other devices a bit before adding a preamp.
 
#22
What problem? Probably the added device will itself create a problem (or a few) when randomly picked. It can be noticed that many apparently ask advice without taking the time to elaborate on the setup/existing devices that may pose certain requirements.
 
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#23
Well, it can happen that things get worse, especially with a cheap one. My first guess is that it doesn't need the extra gain.
PS
I've been using diesel for the past 25 years, and I'll continue to use it until it's banned. 😁
 
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#24
I just bought an FX Tube-01J from a fellow AKer. I’ll let you know how it goes.
IMG_6753.jpeg
 
#25
hi
G

Thread '6J1 tube upgrade'

Good morning everyone
I have a cheap tube buffer using 6J1 tubes (one per channel).
I am quite liking what i am hearing.
I would like to try something better than the stock anonymous tubes. But i wonder if a better tube can really improve the sound leaving all other buffer parts unchanged. 🙄
Thanks a lot indeed. 🙂
 
#26
It glows (key parameter), has a gain of 10x and 6Vrms max output voltage. Normal sources have 2Vrms max output levels and normal power amplifiers have an input sensitivity of 0.5 ...1Vrms for full output power. Tube power amplifiers don't follow a standard but usually are way more sensitive.

This recent version of the preamp thankfully has an attenuation switch (2Vrms sources ->preamp with 10x gain -> attenuation...) to prevent the average tube power amplifier from being insanely overdriven and normal power amplifiers from being severely overdriven. Added dynamics 😀
 
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#31
As I set this up I realized a big difference between now and 20 years ago. Back then I had one monitor with good speakers on either side. Now I have two very large monitors which takes up all the space on my desk.

It might have been better to use a sound bar😂😂😂
 
#32
For all that the picture in post #9 exists only in a computer (spot the errors round the toroid), it could be made rather nicely in a steampunk vein using copper pipe and fittings, with interconnections travelling through the copper pipes. Having said that, most sources are perfectly capable of driving any power amplifier tom clipping via just a volume control - no need for gain.
 
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