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I Recently Became An Audiophile.

Yeeterkeeter said:
I will say, I might get a preamp, since they're much cheaper. All you have to do is thread the SS amp output through the preamp and then the speakers, right?
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You will need a standalone amp or an integrated that allows bypass. Pre Outs to Amp Ins then speaker cables from Amp to Speakers. You can't just slap a standalone Pre in front of just any Receiver

And some Pre Amps are not "Cheaper" I have a Tube Pre that was $4500 when new in the 90s
 
No.
Source>preamp>power amp> speakers.
Or phonograph >phonostage>preamp>power amp>speakers.
A good preamp isn't a whole lot cheaper than a good power amp...
Sure there's cheap preamp designs on ebay and Amazon for under $500, built with questionable components by people who don't really care...

A good one will cost more.
Look for a well isolated power supply, point to point construction, DC heaters, and "propper" wiring and soldering.
Retma color codes on wire.
Signal wires routed away from noise inducing wires.
Inputs that aren't used should be shorted electrically so they can't pollute the signal of the Input that is being used, good preamps do this automatically.
Many don't do it at all.
 
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N0rt0n said:
You will need a standalone amp or an integrated that allows bypass. Pre Outs to Amp Ins then speaker cables from Amp to Speakers. You can't just slap a standalone Pre in front of just any Receiver

And some Pre Amps are not "Cheaper" I have a Tube Pre that was $4500 when new in the 90s
Click to expand...
So, it goes like this
Audio source (whatever that may be) into preamp, preamp into regular amp, regular amp into speakers.

Or am I confused?
 
Yeeterkeeter said:
Exactly. Even if he’s using old tubes or equipment, he builds one or two of these a year. that’s a lot of time, it’s also a lot of effort to do that. And remember, it’s hand assembled, so this guy is putting in a lot of work.
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Not really. It didn't take me much time at all to completely build one from a kit. It was done in a few hours. Personally I think for that kind of money a new board could have been used, or at the very leased new 1% metal film or carbon film resistors could have been used. I guess I'm just used to seeing restored ST-70's go for less. Parts haven't gone up that much with recent inflation. I've ordered a lot of parts recently and didn't have any sticker shock.
 
N0rt0n said:
Have to appreciate the enthusiasm, it's people like this starting out that can help keep this overall hobby going. Too many people shove dirty crappy buds in their ears and listen to their phone having no idea what good sound is.
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Thank you, I got into the hobby from a youtuber, Dankpods. He does a lot of audiophile stuff, so I figured I would check it out, and I'm still going down the rabbit hole, and I'm taking my dad with me lol.
 
N0rt0n said:
people shove dirty crappy buds in their ears and listen to their phone having no idea what good sound is.
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Partially correct. Replace the red word with good and great SQ can be achieved! And I have been doing this for 45ish years, so I do have an idea.
 
Yeeterkeeter said:
I just recently became an audiophile a couple months ago, so I'm pretty new to the whole deal. What are the benefits of using a tube amplifier over a solid state or a digital amp?
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I'd say simplicity. Just in case of failure...
If the circuit is rather simple itself (I mean non-hybrid, non-multiregulated, non-exotic/odd, and non-PCB preferably...)

But it's me, OK ? :biggrin: ;)

T
 
GChief said:
I do not disagree. But the young people I am around everyday are paying up for better EB's, IEM's and HP's. They are also listening to way more music then most.
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I wouldn't consider airpods audiophile grade IEM's. I completely agree with the music part (I can attest as I am young) but as someone who has used airpods and earpods, I will say that they aren't audiophile IEM's
 
Yeeterkeeter said:
I wouldn't consider airpods audiophile grade IEM's. I completely agree with the music part (I can attest as I am young) but as someone who has used airpods and earpods, I will say that they aren't audiophile IEM's
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Never said they were? I was not including Airpods in my "good" comment, they fit @N0rt0n 's point about crap ones, they work and sound "ok" if that's all you have. All my good EB's and IEM's are wired. I have one set of JBL wireless EB's for airport convivence, they are ok at best. As soon as I am on the plane my HP AMP/DAC and HP's come out.
 
GChief said:
Never said they were? I was not including Airpods in my "good" comment, they fit @N0rt0n 's point about crap ones, they work and sound "ok" if that's all you have. All my good EB's and IEM's are wired.
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I was just using airpods as an example, since that's what I see everyone wearing these days, along with, I dunno, raycons (which are total crap btw, never buy those). As for OEM's, I use Bose quietcomfort's, and those work fine enough for me, But I wouldn't consider them audiophile grade.
 
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