Forums - Bridge or preamp for sound quality

Ahb3u

Verified Member

Posts: 19

Bridge or preamp for sound quality
06/12/22 at 14:55:47

Guys
How’s it going?
I am relatively new around here although I have lurked for quite a while. I am hoping to get some opinions while we wait!
Anyway, who has experience with bridging and preamps? And which benefits does sound quality most?
Right now I have an SE84UFO25 and the source is an oppo 205 modified by Modwright with a 6922 output stage and 6 volts true balanced output transformed with an ampsandsound xlr to rca device with attenuators. It sounds awesome in my moderate sized room.
If you had one next option, would you bridge another SE84UFO25 serially, bridge balanced or add a csp3 or 325? Sound stage is the goal, not so much more power. I have a few years to decide, but why not start now?
Thanks!

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EtherRegen/AfterDark Double Emperor clock> Innuos Zenith SE> Phoenix USB reclocker>Modwright Oppo205 and TD125>VosneRomanee>SE84ufo25> Caintuck Magnum Lii F15, Rel S510, Townshend Supertweeters and vibration control; Sound Application SA-XE Line power conditioner

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CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2468

Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality
Reply #1 - 06/12/22 at 15:18:03

JMO but if you have a true balanced source that you are happy with you really haven't heard it unless you have 2 amps configured as "bridged balanced." I bought 2 UFOs configured as balanced mono blocks and they sound so good I got back on the waiting list for a pair of UFO25s. I did it to preserve the balanced signal all the way to the speaker, and for short speaker cable runs, not for the extra watts, but they are a nice bonus when I want to crank it up. Of course you will get many other opinions so this FWIW/YMMV and all that.

Full disclosure: I already had a true balanced (non Decware) tube preamp that I really like, so there was no need to make a decision on amp vs. pre amp. Again for me personally I learned early on that I wanted a fully balanced signal chain and a tube preamp so I would not be without either.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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Bottlehead Seasoned Member Posts: 592	Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality Reply #2 - 06/13/22 at 04:39:27 Hey CAJ, Curious about the fully balanced tube preamp that you like. They seem to be few and far between. Which one do you have? Any mods? Thanks, Randy
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CAJames

Seasoned Member

"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2468

Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality
Reply #3 - 06/13/22 at 14:36:52

I'm using a Woo Audio WA22, I was consolidating my system and wanted a headphone/preamp combo and it fits the bill very nicely. No mods beyond a bunch of "interesting" tubes. Before that I had an Audio Research LS25 mkII (AR has been making balanced tube preamps for a long time), and before that a Sonic Frontiers SFL-2.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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Kahuna Jack Seasoned Member Posts: 178	Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality Reply #4 - 06/13/22 at 21:50:23 Im soon about to slide in a second ufo2.1 to my system after spending some considerable amount of time with just a single amp. No balanced in/outs and your oppo 205 is superior to my source but bridging effect is what I'm curious of as well. Then I'll torment my mind with horizontal vs vertical bi amping next lol
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Ahb3u

Verified Member

Posts: 19

Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality
Reply #5 - 06/14/22 at 01:03:48

Sweet
I’ll be interested to hear about your experiments. I also have dual driver speakers left over from my solid state drive days. Paradigm Persona B sound pretty darn good with this amp. So I will do the same if I go for another amp. I am looking forward to learning what a preamp might bring different from bridging or biamping. I am getting ready for Caintuck open baffles for the f-15 drivers so that may steer me one way or the other! Enjoy the adventure.

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EtherRegen/AfterDark Double Emperor clock> Innuos Zenith SE> Phoenix USB reclocker>Modwright Oppo205 and TD125>VosneRomanee>SE84ufo25> Caintuck Magnum Lii F15, Rel S510, Townshend Supertweeters and vibration control; Sound Application SA-XE Line power conditioner

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Ahb3u Verified Member Posts: 19	Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality Reply #6 - 06/14/22 at 01:10:36 Hi CAJames Everybody seems to love their Woo stuff! I have looked into that line as well as Modwright balanced options. I just found an Australian company that has some Decware traits : Supratek. Has anybody heard any of their preamps?
Back to top	EtherRegen/AfterDark Double Emperor clock> Innuos Zenith SE> Phoenix USB reclocker>Modwright Oppo205 and TD125>VosneRomanee>SE84ufo25> Caintuck Magnum Lii F15, Rel S510, Townshend Supertweeters and vibration control; Sound Application SA-XE Line power conditioner IP Logged

Bottlehead Seasoned Member Posts: 592	Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality Reply #7 - 06/14/22 at 05:00:48 Thanks, CAJames!
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Richie_C Verified Member Posts: 5	Re: Bridge or preamp for sound quality Reply #8 - 06/14/22 at 09:26:26 Not familiar with Supratek, but have been eyeing the Weston Acoustics hand-build tube amps here in Oz http://www.westonacoustics.com.au
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