Sold state or tube!

[aiden]

I use my system for 50/50% for music / movies.
I really enjoy coming home in the evening and putting on some good music (CD/ SACD) and pour a glass of red wine and veg out.
The North Creek Vision speakers have really opened up my taste for good acoustic music. They really do wonders for the female voice and acoustic music. Say Alison Krauss, Sarah Brightman, Celtic Women or Classic music in general.
I read so much about tube pre's and amps are great for music, I wonder if a good solid pre like a Anthem AVM or D2 would get the max musically out of my system. I was planning on using the Yamaha to power the back two channels and getting a quality pre amp for the other five channels, to drive the anthem amps. Should I be looking at a tube pre, or because of the surround for the movies, do I have to go with a surround processor.
In other words, do I need two systems or will one quality pre go both ways, like a AVM or D2 or Krell?

System:
Denon 2900 universal
Yamaha 2400 receiver used as a pre/pro
Anthem MCA 20
Anthem MCA 30
North Creek Signature Vision Monitor speakers
North Creek Signature Vision center Monitor speaker
Polk RTi 6 surround speakers
Polk RTi 6 back speakers
HSU VTF-2 sub
Toshiba HD-DVD HD-A2
Mitsubishi 55"
Monster 3500

[dorokusai]

I've used some North Creek inductors in a couple upgrades....and they make a WONDERFUL loudspeaker.

Out of the choices, Anthem Statement. That gear is designed pretty neutral and if you want to get into tubes, start with a small office rig and get a feel for them first. There's no need to jump head first.

[aiden]

Thanks for the reply! Your right, I know nothing about tube pre's or amps. I just know they are highly thought of and very smooth for music. It's just that I have made a large investment in those Visions and I want to get the best I can from them. I use to own a pair of RTi10's and didn't realize how much more you could hear, once I plugged in the Visions. It was like going from a regular DVD to a Blue Ray DVD. There was a vail lifted from in front the the speakers. Very transparent!

[aiden]

Here's a couple of images of the North Creek Visions! Solid maple with 8 gage crossover coils. Each speaker weighs 84 lbs.

[dorokusai]

The cabinetry is top notch and overall, extremely well made.

[beardog03]

very nice !!

[Keiko]

WoW! That maple wood is just gorgeous. Givin' the dog a bone!

[venomclan]

Getting a dedicated pre/pro will most likely yield better performance over your Yammy avr, but it may not be night and day. The D2 aint cheap. I see that your space is limited, but experimenting with speaker placement can increase your soundstage and may give you the performance you want for free. Are you talking about 2 channel or multichannel musicality?
Venom

[steveinaz]

Nice!

[cfrizz]

Beautiful!

[treitz3]

Is that the revelator tweeter? It looks like the same tweeter that's in my Tyler Taylos 7U's.

As for tubes -vs- solid state? I'm liking the tubed front end [end result as to what hits my ears] better than SS and I'm looking at going the tube pre as well because of what it did for my sound. YMMV, but that's my take on things so far in my audio journey.

[aiden]

Yes, they are revelator tweeters. They aren't real big, maybe 5 1/2". These are monitor speakers that really shine in vocals. It's fun to pick up Alison Krauss breathing between notes. I've matched them with a subwoofer to get the full treatment. You don't alway's have to have a base driven speaker to get the full sound.
I have them 2 1/2' from the wall and about 6 1/2' apart. They are toed in and tilted up a bit. Your right my wife hasn't left we much space to move them around.
Here's some more shots of them being built.