I have some very newbie questions concerning tubes. First I would like this thread to talk more about the technical side of tubes rather than a forum to expound on the merits of tubes vs. anything else. I think we can all agree that they certainly sound different from solid state and that we all have our preferences. So….:

When I have read various reviews of tube pre-amps and amps the choice of tubes is usually mentioned. I don’t necessarily mean who made them but rather the type. How does tube choice affect sound specifically? A basic example of what I mean would be why you might see a more exotic component have a small forest of tubes sticking out of it while other components just have a few inside and out.

Does it make any sense to have a tube pre-amp with a solid state amp? Is this the best of both worlds? (tube sound with the higher wattage/bass output of solid state)?

Also, and please understand I know this is a dumb question, when various people her mention the idea of adding a different stereo pre-amp to their 950, how exactly does one add it to the system? i.e. how does one get it in line with the amp/speakers along with the 950? Is there a splitter somewhere or something?

I hope some of you engineer-types and people experienced with this type of equipment can help shed some light on this.

Thank guys(and gals),
Josh

The type and number of tubes in a particular unit is more of a design decision than anything else. My Audio Research power amp has a virtual forest of tubes, yet it could easily make do with less if they had wanted. Some people like to "tube roll", trying different (compatible) tube types to achieve the sound they like. You don't have to do this however to get good sound.

Using a tube preamp with the 950 (or any other such device) is pretty easy. I take the left and right line outputs of my 950 and route them into an "aux" input of my tube preamp. This tube preamp also has inputs for my turntable, reel-to-reel tape recorders, CD player etc. In home theater mode, I switch to that "aux" input for the 950. The one thing to keep in mind with this setup however is that you need to mark off a "calibrated" setting on the tube preamp's volume control and return to it when in HT mode, otherwise the speaker level calibrations will be off. The placement of this mark is not important, as long as you return to it when playing through the HT preamp. When the tube preamp is not switched to the HT system's "aux" input, it operates like an ordinary stereo preamp (it's always connected to the main front left and right power amps).

Joshorr:

Another way to hook up a tube preamp to the 950 is have to get a preamp with a theater or processor loop. This is the simple way, just hook up front left and right pre out of the preamp to the Power amp channels. Then run the loop to the main power inputs on the 950. The loop will bypass the preamp and send the power amps hooked up to the tube pre amp directly to processor. You would have the tube pre hooked up to main L/R speakers. When listening to 2 channel you will use your tube pre amp to the source. and leave the 950 off. Many tube preamps now have the processor loop and even some integrated tube amps. Anthem, Sonic Frontiers are still around and warrenty is honored by Anthem (I have an Anthem Pre 2L with the loop that I going to sell to get a Cary). Cary, Conrad Johnson, VTL, Plinius, and I believe one of the Jolida models have loops. That is just the ones off the top of my head. Many SS premaps also have the processor loop and can improve your 2 channel enjoyment when hooked up in this format. Good Luck