Thread: Newbie needs tube amp tip

Are you really sure you want to move to a tube amp?

Even with 100+ dB horn speakers, I moved away from SET amps to solid state about 3 years ago and, after a multi-amp home testing period, I settled on an amp that provides every bit of like-like and goosebump-inducing sound as a SET - and it's not a Class A as I was expecting, but a fantastic value Class D one. I now listen to far more music than ever before and have no need to worry about tube ageing or my electricity bill!

Originally Posted by RedFence

Did some quick reading on that unit, and it looks like an excellent fit for what I'm looking for, including the phono input, as vinyl is 80% of my diet. Many thanks. As for the ABCD variations, any preference?

Red, something I would suggest is looking into an Audio Note Kit tube amp or integrated amp. These are based on the very well-regarded Audio Note amps and preamps, DACs etc. And, as kits they are affordable and provide excellent audio quality for the money.

If you're open to an integrated amp, which I think could well meet your needs, check out this really nice 300B-based ANK integrated amp for ~$2500-$3500, depending on the parts specification.

https://ankaudiokits.com/product/kit...ted-amplifier/

While it's 8.5 Wpc, if you're using Klipsch speakers (the Heresy's efficiency is 96 dB/1watt), that's plenty of power to drive your speakers to very loud listening levels without breakup or distortion.

Altnernatively, you could build up a really nice EL34 amp for just around two grand that will provide 35Wpc.
https://ankaudiokits.com/product/el3...er-stereo-amp/

Personally, for your use-case and requirements, I'd be all over these. Plus, they'd be a lot of fun to build up.

And, they are going to sound WAY better than anything you'll likely find used at around these price points (e.g., an old Dyna ST-70, etc.) They will also be more reliable as you'll have an amp with new parts.

Get an Schiit Mani phono stage for $149, and you're good to go:
Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

Cheers.

Alternatively, with respect to "bang for the buck", in my experience it's really tough to beat Schiit Audio products.

Here's some alternatives if you're open to a great-sounding combination tube and solid state set-up from a company with an excellent reputation for superb circuit-topology designs, quality parts and manufacturing and customer service and support, and excellent-sounding products.

Saga tube preamp for $399:
Key Specs:
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, -0.2db, 3Hz-200KHz, -3dB
THD: <0.001%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS
IMD: <0.001%, CCIR (active stage)
SNR: >108db, A-weighted, referenced to 1V RMS
Output Impedance: 180 ohms
Maximum Output: >10V RMS

Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

Gjallarhorn power amp for $299
Key specs:
Stereo, 8 Ohms: 10W RMS per channel
Stereo, 4 Ohms: 15W RMS per channel
Mono, 8 ohms: 30W RMS
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20Khz, +/-0.01db, 3Hz-500KHz, +/-3dB
THD: <0.004%, 20Hz-20KHz, at 1V RMS into 8 ohms
IMD: <0.005%, CCIR, at 1V RMS into 8 ohms
SNR: >117dB, unweighted, referenced to full output
Damping Factor: >100 into 8 ohms, 20-20kHz
Gain: 10 (20dB)
Schiit Audio: Audio Products Designed and Built in Texas and California

Add the Mani phono stage I referenced above for $149 and a you're good to go all in for only...$850. 👍

And, honestly for $850, all in, I doubt you'll be able to find a set-up that sounds better than this, as well as having a new product warrantys (the Saga+ and Gjallarhorn have a 5 year warranty) and excellent customer support for service and repair.

60x25 listening room ? Holy Molly !!!

> I'm dumping my very meh 901s and am taken with the vintage Klipsch shtick, and I've read (over and over) that they like tube amps. So, if you were to indulge a nostalgic twat and recommend a tube amp, what might it be?

Well if you are buying vintage speakers and are prepared to listen to vintage sound, then vintage amplifier seems to be a logical choice!

I've been using "modern" horn speakers since 2002 and indeed took note of the "horns need tubes" theory for the first 17 years of ownership, using SET amps from Art Audio and Consonance, mainly 845-based. Also used OTL and other tube amps.

As I mentioned earlier I decided to look carefully at modern amps and how they would get my speakers sounding. After buying or borrowing a dozen SS amps of various classes, I opted for a first-class Class D amp. Now, 4 years later, I have no regrets and indeed recently bought a pair of Class D monos recently, built by a highly respected tube amp brand. The owner has admitted that he's "seen the light" regarding tube amps and their high prices and unacceptable use of power. He claims his modestly priced Class D amps sound better than any of his mega-bucks OTL tube amps.

Your decision is of course just that and I'm not trying to persuade you otherwise, but I'm certainly not going back to tubes myself, now that Class D is so cost-effective and offers such great sound - even with horn speakers!

Not much respect lost on those OTL’s mate , being bettered by a class D amp says it all, now Kindly recommend a Toob amp or not for the lonely soul looking for one ..



Regards

Another option take a look at Cary Audio, the SLY80 offers both SET & PP from one amp. They also offer hybrids if liking tube flavor but wanting more power.

Welcome to AS

Originally Posted by a.wayne

Not much respect lost on those OTL’s mate , being bettered by a class D amp says it all, now Kindly recommend a Toob amp or not for the lonely soul looking for one ..

Regards

Do some research on modern Class D amps. Old designs such as Tripath were pioneers in the same way early digital cameras were - and are rubbish. Who doesn't use digital cameras now they've evolved? If you can't find a Class D amp to match anything else at its price , you are just not looking! Your loss I have to say.

Originally Posted by Hear Here

Do some research on modern Class D amps. Old designs such as Tripath were pioneers in the same way early digital cameras were - and are rubbish. Who doesn't use digital cameras now they've evolved? If you can't find a Class D amp to match anything else at its price , you are just not looking! Your loss I have to say.

I think most of us are sick and tired of you turning threads into a Class D rant, argument. It's like you get some type of kick back. It's a dead horse and the OP is not looking for that. BFN

Originally Posted by Hear Here

Do some research on modern Class D amps. Old designs such as Tripath were pioneers in the same way early digital cameras were - and are rubbish. Who doesn't use digital cameras now they've evolved? If you can't find a Class D amp to match anything else at its price , you are just not looking! Your loss I have to say.

Hear here , hope to learn alot more about class D, aside is their a Tooby Amp you can recommend ..??


Regards

No reason for you to apologize. Our apologies to you that the Class D was even mentioned and the extraneous discussion posted.

Originally Posted by RedFence

Appreciate all the input, and apologies stirring the tube/class D pot. And, yes, the room is a bit weird, as my kitchen, dining and living room are all one big box. It also leaves me with no real corners to place speakers unless I put one in front of the dishwasher and another next to a woodstove. This had me considering Allison One's or Two, as I understand they go against a wall. But they appear to few relatively few and far between. Thx again.

Hi Red - I've owned several Klipsch Heritage speakers. I've tried SS and tube amps on them. I missed the tube magic when trying the non-tube amps of all kinds.

The speakers ROCK with nice tube amps. The tube amps I've owned are more expensive than the price point you are looking for, but you will have no problem finding one in your price point that rocks and sounds great.

One of the best sounding tube amps I had with Klipsch was the Luxman LX-380 tube integrated.

Are there any you've already set your sights on we may be able to help with?

Also, don't worry about their "unacceptable use of power" as brought up earlier. Just have a chuckle and move along finding the amp that YOU like regardless of what others try to tell you.

Bottlehead makes a great 6V6 preamp kit, the Moreplay, that would pair well with a transparent class D amp like the Starkrimson. You’d definitely get the 6V6 flavor.

The AudioNote Kits EL34 push-pull amps are very clean. Very good amps and not that difficult to build.

Having said that, I definitely prefer SET amps to push-pull. If you need extra power, try parallel single ended amps. PSE 2A3 or 300B amps would work great with those speakers.