So I was daydreaming about what kind of secondary system I'd like to have after my main stereo reaches a point that resembles completeness, and I kept thinking about tubes. Then I started to think about the possibility of sharing room + equipment with this secondary system to save on buying more components and have quick access to either one, depending on mood/source material. If possible (and plausible), it would be a separate tubed power amp with its own set of speakers better suited for SET's. The tubes would be fed straight from the main systems solid state pre-amp or ICBM. If I could get the ICBM involved then that brings the subwoofer online and takes some load off of the tube amp.

Basically, I'd be trying to fit the tubes + speakers into a set up like this:

Source(s)
|
SS Pre-Amp
|
ICBM > Sub
|
SS Power Amp
|
Main Speakers


The questions:
1. Is it ok to use a solid state pre-amp with a tube amp? I don't know much about impedance matching, but it seems like it might be relevant here. I know that lots of people use tube pre-amps with ss power amps, but not sure if it works so well the other way around.

2. If it is ok, would I get the desired "tube sound" from such a set up?

3. Would there be a way to avoid doing a cable switch each time I want to listen to the tubes?

4. Am I making any sense at all?


Thanks for any help.


Jon

Interesting question. I found a nice article on SoundStage that covers it pretty well. It basically says ss before tube is a bad idea. Here's a quote if you don't have time to read the whole thing:

"How do you mix tubes and solid state? Solid state preamp and tube amp or tube preamp and solid state amp? My personal opinion is that a solid state preamp combined with a tube amp brings the worst of both technologies into sharper focus. You drive a tube amp with a low distortion, wide frequency range audio signal with perfect bass performance and the tube amp will reproduce the (probably) lifeless midrange, make the bass less good that it was when it left the preamp and not be able to "fix" the less than pristine/delicate highs the solid state preamp is likely to make."

Aha, thanks.

Back to the drawing board, haha.

Let your ears decide...

My Experience

That's a beautiful little amp. TNT reviewed it, mentioning the use of a SS pre-amp too.

Hmm, good to know. I probably would have tried this approach first as well... fortunately I have no time and no money

I too grappled with an economical way of getting double duty from my HT to play music using tubes. Here's what I did on a friend's advice that has worked well for me the past 6 months: source (h/k dvd 22)- tube preamp (tono) - cd-in avr (marantz 7300) - speakers (axioms+svs). Aside from calibrating the volume control in the preamp w/ the avr, set-up required nothing else.

I'm not saying the set-up is the best, but I can vouch for the "improved sound" tubes provide over solid state in my system. Also, all the features in the AVR work. I can choose Dolby, DTS, Multi-Stereo, Stereo over the default Source Direct if I wish. And I get to use the AVR's bass management, a distinct plus if you don't have full-range mains (I have the M22s).

I think this route is a good way to "scale into" tubes. If you're happy with it and want more, you can get the tube amp next.

So you've set it up as an output stage for your source. Kind of like the ZBOX made by DECWARE. Definitely something I will try out when the time comes. Thanks for sharing.