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The earlier on in your system you have valve amplification, the more of the 'valve sound' you'll introduce. However, a lot of that is very dependent on the circuitry and which valves you use. If you use old-style RIAA correction and tone controls on your phono stage (e.g. in a Mullard pre-amp), it'll have that classic sound. Likewise, if you use old fashioned capacitors you'll get more of an old timey sound to it because of the materials used and the relatively slack tolerances. Modern valves also sound quite different to old ones for the same reasons.
A 'bigger' sound with a valve amp normally only comes from good quality output transformers. Small, cheap transformers roll off quickly at the bottom end (losing bass) and saturate when dealing with full, complex signals. That results in a loss of detail at the top end. So bear that in mind if you're considering one of those cheaper Chinese valve amps, because they often have quite small output transformers.
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Jonny69
salad
tldr: want nice tube-y sound in my living room for both turntable and digital inputs, sub £1000
..what tube (or hybrid) stereo amps / pre-amps are there sub 1000 that have a (proper) built in phono stage? I see a Magnat MA 700, an ugly Taga HTA-800, and not much else.
Most of the tube amps seem to be super high end / super powerful (and super expensive).
I have a sort-of basic Yamaha amp (AX-397) with a built-in phono stage (that's pretty decent actually), Canton speakers which are fairly nice. They already sound warm / "round".
The overall sound is good but I want it to be "better" - "bigger" (not necessary louder, I have neighbours), with more warmth, more spaciousness, more "life", also I want the digital inputs (mac / iphone) to sound "less digital" / "more analogue" - and I got the impression that incorporating tubes in the setup might help with all that.
Is this a worthwhile endeavour, given the limited budget?
Are there good (tube) preamps that I would use with my Yamaha, that allow digital sources and turntable to be connected?
Do I get a new stereo (tube / hybrid) amp instead of the Yamaha?
Do I get a mixer with tubes (and nice phono preamps something like a MasterSounds Valve - but cheaper)?
Would an Ecler Warm2 give me what I need (even though it doesn't actually have tubes)?
What other options do you know of?
Any thoughts / feedback appreciated, ta!