Thought I was done with my midlife crisis system last year, then while upgrading my headphone amp I chose the Schiit Lyr+ with tube preamp/solid-state amp. Was surprised by how much I love the tube effect, finding the sound much more mesmerizing, enveloping, almost psychedelic. After a home audition I now have the same setup in my main system with the McIntosh MA352. Please note I feel quite guilty as $7K is twice what I ever thought was reasonable for amplification, but my God does it sound good!
I imagine the McIntosh amplification (class A/B) is a step up from my old NAD C399 (class D), but I credit most of the change to those preamp tubes because I knew what to listen for after hearing the Lyr+ with my headphones. Apparently tubes create "good" distortion that somehow lubricates the brain to better hear music. I understand full tube amplification takes it further yet, but usually at the cost of dynamics. Being obsessed with strong, tight bass I probably wouldn't like that, plus I really don't want to worry about a dozen different tubes wearing out and staying tuned. Supposedly the four small pre-amp tubes in the MA352 will last a long time so I suspect this tube preamp/solid-state amp arrangement may be ideal.
So, my question is, why don't more mainstream amp manufacturers offer the tube preamp/solid-state amp arrangement? Do most people not hear or like the tube effect? Or would they not be willing to buy an integrated with a tube sticking out? To me the tube effect offers more of what we're all looking for: the ability to get lost in the music. Why aren't we talking about tubes more? Sorry to most of you, of course I mean "valves"!
I imagine the McIntosh amplification (class A/B) is a step up from my old NAD C399 (class D), but I credit most of the change to those preamp tubes because I knew what to listen for after hearing the Lyr+ with my headphones. Apparently tubes create "good" distortion that somehow lubricates the brain to better hear music. I understand full tube amplification takes it further yet, but usually at the cost of dynamics. Being obsessed with strong, tight bass I probably wouldn't like that, plus I really don't want to worry about a dozen different tubes wearing out and staying tuned. Supposedly the four small pre-amp tubes in the MA352 will last a long time so I suspect this tube preamp/solid-state amp arrangement may be ideal.
So, my question is, why don't more mainstream amp manufacturers offer the tube preamp/solid-state amp arrangement? Do most people not hear or like the tube effect? Or would they not be willing to buy an integrated with a tube sticking out? To me the tube effect offers more of what we're all looking for: the ability to get lost in the music. Why aren't we talking about tubes more? Sorry to most of you, of course I mean "valves"!
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