[george]

Interesting the comment about how tube amps require more maintenance and care. I have heard that several times from individuals with whom I have discussed amplifiers. I cannot comment on tube headphone amps as I have had the Melos only a short period, but I have used tube amps and preamps in my system for the past 16 years or so and have found them to be relatively low maintenance. Obviously if you change tubes then you may need to rebias the amp, and trying different tubes to see how the music is changed is actually fun, but optional. IMO the concern of maintenance is not sufficient to rule out tube amps and the wonderous sound they bring to music reproduction. Plus from what I have seen in researching headphone amps, many of them use small signal tubes, such as 6992 or 12AX7 and even if they use EL34 like the ASL, how much demand do they put on the tubes driving headphones? Good tubes will last a long time.

Have fun in your quest and enjoy the music.

 

[tom hankins]

The only more maintenance I put in to tube amps is having to turn it on when I get home because I turned it off when I was done the night before. They are no more trouble than solid state. Rolling tubes is not maintenance, it's a purk.

 

[george]

What he said!

 

[SuperMario]

Ok, guys!

I think I got your message about what tube amp maintenance really means - or involves (BTW, I couldn't find PURK in any of the three dictionaries I own, but I guess it would mean extra dividend or something related to extra fun ; am I right?)

Thanks, George; thanks, Tom

 

[richpjr]

I believe he meant "perk" not "purk".

 

[tom hankins]

I may have spelled it wrong, but you still got it right.

 

[SuperMario]

Hi, guys

After much reading, asking-for-advice and thinking-about, I have finally made my mind! And the winner is... the Corda Prehead!!!

I am now the proud owner of a brand new Prehead bought directly from Dr. Meier.

After more than seven days burn-in, I can only say that... my current and transitory portable player sucks. As expected, I initiated a quest for a compatible source (see my new thread on the Source section) and, in the last few days, I have been plugging my Prehead to some nice players ranging from $1,500 to $9,000 and I'm very well impressed by the strengths of this great amp.

Thank you, guys, for all your advice and support which helped me to choose so well! I hope you can do the same regarding the source to buy.

Cheers!

 

[Thump]

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperMario Hi, guys ... After more than seven days burn-in, I can only say that... my current and transitory portable player sucks. As expected, I initiated a quest for a compatible source ...

Yet another one sucked into upgradeitis. Welcome aboard.

 

[SuperMario]

Yep!!