Tube preamp & power amp for listening to Flim songs...

[sureshkn]

Hi,
I mostly listen to film songs of 70s to 90s. Have a Pioneer belt drive with AT95E cartridge.

If I move to Tube based phono preamp & power amp, will the sound quality improve ? Or Tube amps are good only for Western Classics and Instrumentals. Will it be good for Indian Film songs ?

Best Regards,
Suresh.

 

[nshankar]

Tube preamp and amp with TT will enhance any music.

 

[iaudio]

Sureshkn, I personally really feel that a tube amp, record player combo is really good for the said genre of music. Do look at the Lyrita 2A3 integrated or something along that lines. But you will need highly sensitive speakers

 

[Naturelover]

Tube amp would definitely be good. You are in Bangalore with several options at various price points. Check out some and see what you like. Do check out the Acoustic Portrait integrated amp with tube pre and SS power. You will find the details on another thread.

 

[sachu888]

It totally depends on personal preference. Tube and SS both have some +ve and limitations.

Regards
Sachin

 

[reubensm]

Don't jump blindly into the world of tubes. It is better to audition both tube and solid state phonostages, and then take a call on what sounds good to your ears. Remember, anything to do with tubes is generally priced very high so if you get into something with tubes, getting out of it is not going to be easy

 

[paramesh]

It totally depends on personal preference. Tube and SS both have some +ve and limitations.

Regards
Sachin

can you explain me what is the +ve and limitation ? I want to know.

 

[reubensm]

Here is a good read: Vacuum Tubes versus Solid-State Transistors

 

[stevieboy]

Hi Suresh,

If the LPs you have of the film songs are typical mastered shrill, my guess is then yes a tube amp might help soften the sound, whereas the average solid state amp will sound harder. So that might help. As for the rest it really depends on whether you like the sound of a particular tube!

Regards

 

[analogadikt]

What amp and speakers you have now and what is your budget?

Regards,

 

[sureshkn]

Thanks a lot for all the replies. Right now I am not planning to buy any Tube amp. Just trying to understand the difference.

Definitely will audition few Tube amps with my favorite songs before deciding.

Thanks,
Suresh.

 

[Fantastic]

If the vinyl sound from old albums is harsh you could try to soften it by lowering the input impedance of the phono preamp. Just add a parallel resistor to the preamp input. It will roll off the HF. How much you will need is to be determined by experimentation. Usual impedance is 47 K ohm. You could try say, 30 K ohm or 20 K ohm ! For 30 K ohm effective impedance you can add 82K in parallel.

 

[sachu888]

If the vinyl sound from old albums is harsh you could try to soften it by lowering the input impedance of the phono preamp. Just add a parallel resistor to the preamp input. It will roll off the HF. How much you will need is to be determined by experimentation. Usual impedance is 47 K ohm. You could try say, 30 K ohm or 20 K ohm ! For 30 K ohm effective impedance you can add 82K in parallel.

Good advise.His Phoostage already have DIP switches for resistive loading. Suresh you can select 18k, 33k, 47k, or 62k by switch on the respective switch on both DIP switches. I doubt whether you like 33k position as it may sound muddy, 62k could be overly bright in your set up.
Alternatively you can add one toggle switch for Mono. Old records play best with Mono setting. It will remove most of the harshness from old Lps.
Edit: http://www.reddit.com/r/vinyl/comments/2fwutn/for_those_new_to_mono_listening_heres_a_trick/

Regards
Sachin

 

[sureshkn]

Hi Sachin,
I have not played around with the DIP switches. I will message you to understand how to set them.

Regards,
Suresh.

 

[sachu888]

Hi Sachin,
I have not played around with the DIP switches. I will message you to understand how to set them.

Regards,
Suresh.

HI Suresh
Its very easy. There are four values printed on PCB.
1. 18k
2. 33k
3. 47k
4. 62k
If you switch on the respective no of switch on four position DIP switch. It will load the cart on respective resistance. I assume you have selected no 3 position on both the DIP switches. That means you are loading your cart at 47k resistance. You can simply change your resistive loading by switching of 3 no position. You can then select another loading by selecting different position on both DIP switches. For ex you can select 33k loading by switching on 2 no position on both DIP switches.
Please remember less loading means loos of details. You will hear very least details on 18k(muddy) position and max details(bright) on 62k loading.

Regards
Sachin