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Old 10-20-2014, 01:01 PM   #1
carmine7075
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Carolina
Posts: 11,892
Little Bear 6J1 Tube Valve Preamp

Do yourself a favor and get one of these little preamps off of the bay. They regularly sell for less than $30 shipping included, and for the money, it sounds really great in my system.

What you get is tiny two tube preamp with gain control and one set of RCA in/out. You have to assemble it, and the power transformer leaves a bit to be desired. That said, it is dead silent at rest, no hum at all. It even quieted down my ss phono preamp which had a slight buzz at higher volumes without source playing.

In the line, it really makes a big difference to my ear. I am listening to Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here,and it is as clear as a bell and smooth. The instruments have really nice separation, and the mids and vocals are just dead on. Guitars sound really, really nice. Overall, it warmed the tone a bit. And this is playing music from spotify on the extreme setting from my Iphone!! Vinyl is even better.

I know a real tube amp or a more complex tube preamp would sound better than this little tube pre and ss amp, but that costs some serious coin. I paid $26 for my little bear, including shipping, and all things considered, it sounds better than it should.

They also say it sounds even better with vintage tubes. I am running the Chinese tubes that came with it, but plan to try some other options down the road.
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Last edited by carmine7075; 10-20-2014 at 05:27 PM.
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