Does the Hydra have that tube magical sound?
If you like to get one of these, upscale audio has a cpl of used ones at good prices here! Check em out.
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McIntosh has a hybrid integrated amp, MA252 with a tube preamp section and solid state power amp section all in one cool-looking chassis.
The music room has a used Conrad Johnson tube preamp and a used Conrad Johnson tube poweramp. This combo would be wonderfully musical, but pricing gets to be over $4k for the combo.
With CJ tubes, unbalanced rca are the only option.
With PS Audio, there is a huge sound quality benefit with balanced connections, to the point that I preferred the SGCD to the M700 with balanced connections over my CJ tube preamp to the M700’s with rca connections, so I understand where you’re coming from.
Schiit Freya + may be the way to go to integrate with your current setup and allow for future growth.
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Wow! I just checked it out, LOOKS AMAZING! Definitely on my short list now for future purchases. I also found some good used prices, OP might wanna look into this! McIntosh also holds it value extremely well!
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I happen to like the sound of Class D provided that it has an input stage either FET or Tube based. After all, the ICE or HPEX amps are suppose to act like a big Voltage Amplifier. What goes in, one would assume, is exactly what should come out but “bigger”. For a lot of us tired of lugging around big heavy amps, Class D is truly the future. They have improve year after year. To my ears, Class D done correctly will sound every bit as good as Class AB and dare I say Class A.
Just my 5 cents.
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Bob Latino’s come preassembled as well for less than Rogue…
and great performance to boot!
Also have different build options
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I am not familiar with the “tube magical sound” concept but it does sound very good. Not as satisfying as the BHK 250 but the sonic perfomance bested my previous power amp (Bryston 4BST) and it is built like a brick outhouse.
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Maybe if you use a Tube pre-amp, or do something like PS Audio is doing with M1200. I believe the very high end Class D sounds good and can rival Class AB, and very low end Class D sounds better than Class AB, just because the modules are essentially the same. In the middle, Class AB is best for most ppl and much more forgiving with various speakers. I am sure Class D would get better and better but for now, I love Class AB sound, and adding a pre-amp Tube is just icing on the cake!
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