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04/23/24 at 09:45:36

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Pure tube or hybrid? (Read 5393 times)

flargosa Senior Member Posts: 83	Pure tube or hybrid? 04/25/19 at 19:18:18 Do you guys go pure tube or do you hybrid your components? Maybe tube pre with solid state power amp or vice versa? What is your preference?
Back to top	Sources: 2Qute, Hugo 2, Rega P5, Marantz SACD 8005. Amps: Decware SE84UFO2, Torii, Nelson Pass Aleph, Elekit 8600s Speakers: Tekton, Golden Ear Triton Two, HD800S. IP Logged

Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 23492	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #1 - 04/25/19 at 19:22:11 Tube all the way!
Back to top	HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK2,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects, IsoPods; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1 IP Logged

Tal Seasoned Member Posts: 128	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #2 - 04/25/19 at 20:34:49 All tube except for a Schiit Saga pre, which is tube hybrid. I purchased the Saga to see if a pre improved anything, and the Saga is an inexpensive option to "test the water". Also the Saga matches my Schiit DAC. I may eventually purchase a CSP3
Back to top	SE84UFO2 25A mods x2, ZP3 25A mods, CSP3 25A mods, ZRock2 25A mods, Rega P3-24 Incognito tonearm rewire and Groovetracer mods, Bob's Devices SUT > ZP3, Denafrips Pontus + Hermes, Bluesound streamer, Zu Soul VI, Omega DeepOmega8 sub, IP Logged

Palomino Seasoned Member Posts: 2474	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #3 - 04/25/19 at 20:41:34 My DAC serves as a pre so I guess hybrid.
Back to top	i7 Mac Mini with LPSU/SSD running Audirvana 3.5, Uptone Audio Regen on LPSU, Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, Ven Haus DIY Silver ICs, 25th Ann. Zen, PS Audio P5 Power Supply, PS Audio Power Cords, GR Research Speaker Wire, DIY Big Betsy and Crystal 10 Open Baffle Speakers IP Logged

Melvin Ex Member	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #4 - 04/26/19 at 13:55:24 I don't use a pre with my SE84UFO and my DAC has tube output stage. As pure as I'm gonna get.
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slop Verified Member Posts: 31	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #5 - 04/26/19 at 17:53:33 I like my lta MZ2 in front of my zen UFO. It slightly betters the sound/soundstage and the 3 volts it outputs, is very welcomed by the amp.
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HockessinKid Seasoned Member Posts: 1091	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #6 - 04/26/19 at 18:03:29 Pure tube for my system, less my digital side (PC, CD transport & DAC). But everything routes through my CSP3-25 preamp and ZMA amp. HK
Back to top	Nottingham Interspace TT w/ Audio Technica AT-OC9XML cart + Modwright PH 9.0XT phono OR Modwright modded Cambridge CNX V2 > CSP3-25th Ann. preamp > ZMA-25th Ann. amp > PI Audio UberBUSS > Caintuck Audio Lii15 Magnum speakers > Snake River Audio & ZenWave cables IP Logged

flargosa Senior Member Posts: 83	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #7 - 04/27/19 at 03:15:45 Does a tube preamp with ss power amp sound like a tube amp with more power or does a SS power amp take away the some of the tube sound?
Back to top	Sources: 2Qute, Hugo 2, Rega P5, Marantz SACD 8005. Amps: Decware SE84UFO2, Torii, Nelson Pass Aleph, Elekit 8600s Speakers: Tekton, Golden Ear Triton Two, HD800S. IP Logged

Doug Seasoned Member Posts: 274	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #8 - 05/08/19 at 19:17:23 For the past few weeks I have been driving my SS LFD NCSE with my CSP3 25th preamp. This combo is delivering the most beautiful music imaginable.
Back to top	Jay’s CD2T-Mk3 Denafrips Pontus II ZROCK2 25th Mods CSP3 25th & Custom Mods PAP Quintets with Voxativ 1.6 First Watt J2 or Cary 300SEI driving Voxativs—no crossover LFD NCSE driving 15” Woofers IP Logged

Doug

Seasoned Member

Posts: 274

Re: Pure tube or hybrid?
Reply #9 - 05/08/19 at 20:19:24

Just re-read your question. It’s possible, as in my case (LFD NCSE), that a SS amp can have more of that euphonic “tube sound” than a tube amp. It’s my opinion, after owning and using 3 Decware amps, that they do not have that traditional “tube sound.” Instead, they resolve detail like it’s nobody’s business, they are super clean and fast, and they present a massive soundstage with superb imaging. I don’t think many have described Decware amps as having a warm tube sound that we all know.

Jay’s CD2T-Mk3
Denafrips Pontus II
ZROCK2 25th Mods
CSP3 25th & Custom Mods
PAP Quintets with Voxativ 1.6
First Watt J2 or Cary 300SEI
driving Voxativs—no crossover
LFD NCSE driving 15” Woofers

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Tommy Freefall Seasoned Member Posts: 400	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #10 - 05/09/19 at 20:40:21 Has anyone tried pairing up a Decware tube preamp – say a CSP3 – with one of Nelson Pass’ First Watt SS amps? If so how did that work out? Are those two compatible? Is that a satisfactory combination?
Back to top	Torii MkIV w/ 25th ann mods Rachael SE34I.5 Benchmark AHB2 ERRx ZStage, ZRock2 Tascam CD-240 Border Patrol DAC Benchmark DAC3 HGC Bluesound Node Zu Audio Mission speaker cables Decware I/Cs PI Audio MiniBUSS Zenhead, Grado 325e IP Logged

armstdav

Seasoned Member

Posts: 177

Re: Pure tube or hybrid?
Reply #11 - 05/10/19 at 05:24:30

I didn't own any Decware back then, but I spent a period of a couple years with an F4 clone and a couple different tube preamps. The F4 was pretty transparent so it basically transmitted whatever the preamp was doing; with the Wright WLA12A it was warm and tubey and with the Jolida Envoy it was fast and detailed. Having subsequently owned a CSP3, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

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