what happens if you run a tube tuner into a solid state amp?

[Artcurus]

Depends on the tuner, I have a Sherwood 3000? I think? connected to my Harmon Kardon AVR520 HT preamp.

You can definitely tell it's a tube tuner, and they are right, the sensitivity is much higher.

 

[wa2ise]

McIntosh apparently felt it made sense:

MAC 1500 and 1700 receivers both have SS preamplifier section with tube tuner.

Back then, transistors could handle low frequencies but not the VHF of FM radio, at least not economically.

 

[jaymanaa]

Likely sound a little better than a SS tuner.

Yes, as tubes (triodes) are more linear than "other" devices. ara:

 

[goldear]

It's fine. I doubt that tube tuners impart much 'tube sound', so it's going to sound like the amp, whatever that is.

I agree that in general its fine to connect a tube tuner to a solid state preamp. Although this may depend to some degree on which tube tuner your intend to use, and the input impedance of the preamp. This is because some tube tuners may have some difficulty driving the lower impedance loads which some SS preamps will have. This is especially true if they are using passive deemphasis filters as the finals stage, as some tube tuners do (such as Sherwoods).

On the other hand, I can say from experience that tube tuners can sound very different from SS tuners, even when proper loading is fully taken-into consideration.

 

[Rod Beauvex]

Just a note, most stereo tube tuners end with a silicon diode bridge, which the output is connected to. Some designs add a tube after this though.