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12/13/25 at 10:13:56

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Pure tube or hybrid? (Read 7292 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: 27007	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #1 - 04/25/19 at 19:22:11 Tube all the way!
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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: 2519	Re: Pure tube or hybrid? Reply #3 - 04/25/19 at 20:41:34 My DAC serves as a pre so I guess hybrid.
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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: 1296	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 > MWI PH 9.0XT phono preamp or MWI modded Cambridge CNX V2 > CSP3-25th preamp > STL STR-1002 Super > ZMA-25th amplifier > PI Audio UberBUSS > Caintuck Lii15 Magnum speakers > Vera-Fi Snub Station > SA AUVA's > Snake River & 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: 344	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 Speakers: PAP Quintet w/Vox 1.6 or Horn1 PAP-C1 (First Watt) active crossover Amplifiers: LFD NCSE for Woofers First Watt J2 for Voxativ and Horn Cary 300SEI for Super Tweeters IP Logged

Doug

Seasoned Member

Posts: 344

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
Speakers:
PAP Quintet w/Vox 1.6 or Horn1
PAP-C1 (First Watt) active crossover
Amplifiers:
LFD NCSE for Woofers
First Watt J2 for Voxativ and Horn
Cary 300SEI for Super Tweeters

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Tommy Freefall Seasoned Member Posts: 420	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	Rachael SE34I.5 Naim Nait 50 Benchmark AHB2 Zu Audio DWX Supreme ERRx ZRock2 Tascam CD-240 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: 180

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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