Tubed Power Amplifiers. Are the disadvantages too great ?

AJ Soundfield said:
Worldwide space programs long abandoned solid state hardware for audiophile tube technology, especially in deep space probes. Believe me.
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Surprisingly, there are still tubes being launched in satellites, of the traveling wave tube type. For any frequency, there is a power level above which tubes are best, and for any power level, there is a frequency above which tubes work best.

It's always about finding the right tool for a particular job. I wouldn't want to make a cell phone with tubes, and I wouldn't want to make a preamp, compressor, etc., without them. Your mileage may vary; whatever you have is serving you well as long as you're enjoying the music!
 
stereogeek said:
I have been involved in hobby since about 1969 or so and I don't care how anything tests. If you can't tell a good piece of gear by listening save your money and purchase Bose. BTW, I do agree that Atkinson is the best tester because he explains his findings. BTW #2, My speakers ( Volti Razz ) test horrible but sound excellent and get rave reviews. How is this possible if they test so poorly?
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The human ear/brain is a non-linear system, works completely differently than our test instruments. As a result, there are things that are easy to measure and hard to hear, and things that are easy to hear and hard to measure. This makes good audio engineering both a science and an art. My take is that a component must measure sufficiently well that you are confident you are not hearing an objective aberration, and then must also subjectively sound quite lifelike. Of course, this is easier with electronics than with speaker design!
 
VAC said:
The human ear/brain is a non-linear system, works completely differently than our test instruments. As a result, there are things that are easy to measure and hard to hear, and things that are easy to hear and hard to measure. This makes good audio engineering both a science and an art. My take is that a component must measure sufficiently well that you are confident you are not hearing an objective aberration, and then must also subjectively sound quite lifelike. Of course, this is easier with electronics than with speaker design!
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well said !!
 
That's a bad @$$ piece of gear fo sho. My Bottlehead 300b amps are just quite not enough power for my speakers. They do look awesome, congrats. Need a full write up though.
 
Oddiofyl said:
Sure it only makes 7 watts, but they are 7 REALLY good watts.....
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With any zero feedback SET, if you want to get the best out of it, you need a speaker that is efficient enough that you never exceed 20% of full power. If more power is required, the amp will start to sound 'dynamic' as higher ordered harmonics start to show up on transients. It is that distortion that is responsible for the false sense of 'dynamics' because of how they interact with the ear. So saying its a nice 7 Watts isn't exactly true. I bet its got a nice first Watt though.
 
mep said:
That sounds good to say, but the reality is you should care about speaker measurements to ensure you match them with an amp that can drive them correctly.

If you have a pair of speakers that are 87dB sensitive at 1w/1m and they are nominally a 4 ohm speaker with 2 ohm dips, you probably aren't going to try and drive them with a 7 watt SE tube amp.
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My Oly 1s have those specs and I ended up not being satisfied at all with the MC75 monoblocks driving them. I got a beefy solid state 400 watt Class D e-purify amp, and now the fabers sing,
Now I am wondering if I should go find used 300 watt tubed monoblocks (and the 14K needed to acquire).....LOL.
 
stereogeek said:
I have been involved in hobby since about 1969 or so and I don't care how anything tests. If you can't tell a good piece of gear by listening save your money and purchase Bose. BTW, I do agree that Atkinson is the best tester because he explains his findings. BTW #2, My speakers ( Volti Razz ) test horrible but sound excellent and get rave reviews. How is this possible if they test so poorly?
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Not enough internet bandwidth to properly discuss why ...! :)
 
petek said:
My Oly 1s have those specs and I ended up not being satisfied at all with the MC75 monoblocks driving them. I got a beefy solid state 400 watt Class D e-purify amp, and now the fabers sing,
Now I am wondering if I should go find used 300 watt tubed monoblocks (and the 14K needed to acquire).....LOL.
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Never met a speaker not benefitting from more power , go for it ..

Regards
 
Feanor said:
So well yes, I do: their testing is valid. However one has to interpret their findings in terms of one's own preferences.
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There’s some validity in his bench measurements but Amir does skew his testing results to move class D to the front of the line, mostly a finger forward to the audiophile community favoring toobs and class A SS ..!



Regards
 
petek said:
……
Now I am wondering if I should go find used 300 watt tubed monoblocks (and the 14K needed to acquire).....LOL.
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Yes, you should. Don’t delay!
Based on my experience the Sonus Faber Amati Futura’s and MC 2301’s are a good match.
 
mep said:
Amir/ASR's measurements have been discussed on the net including this forum. The best we have for taking measurements of audio gear in the U.S. is John Atkinson of Stereophile. JA is well respected/trusted in the audio industry.
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I like & respect John Atkinson's reviews. His measurements are valid but not necessarily better Amir at ASR's measurement. The latter measurement findings as well as does J.A., IMO.

If J.A. has a problem it is that he adheres to the maxim, "If can't say something nice, then say very little that's negative".
 
Feanor said:
I like & respect John Atkinson's reviews. His measurements are valid but not necessarily better Amir at ASR's measurement. The latter measurement findings as well as does J.A., IMO.

If J.A. has a problem it is that he adheres to the maxim, "If can't say something nice, then say very little that's negative".
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Aside from your first sentence, I disagree with everything you said. JA calls balls and strikes when he takes measurements. If JA sees something is wrong, he calls it out.

In terms of experience and credibility in the audio industry, there is no comparison between JA and Amir IMO.
 
jdandy said:
Myles.......Thanks for bringing your point of view to the discussion, and refocusing on the original topic. The clowning around gets old quick.
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THAT was refocusing.
Refocusing would be a statistic comparing fail rates, rather than a history lesson.
 
I have tried to keep it simple and reliable since 1968, McIntosh solid state plugged directly into the wall. Sidney Coderrman said solid state and tube should sound the same if designed correctly. I have found that to be true.
 
Feanor said:
I like & respect John Atkinson's reviews. His measurements are valid but not necessarily better Amir at ASR's measurement. The latter measurement findings as well as does J.A., IMO.

If J.A. has a problem it is that he adheres to the maxim, "If can't say something nice, then say very little that's negative".
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Maybe in a Class D universe they are equals :)
 
Kingrex said:
Sales guys irritate me when they say I have to have such and such. Especially speakers. I like my open baffle and Magnepans. Plus tubes. One guy keeps telling me I don't know what I like and need a boxed speaker with a SS amp. I haven't bought anything from him in a long time.
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He sounds like people on audio forums. "You know know what you are really hearing". "Your ears are lying to you." "There is no way you can hear a difference in cables." "There is no way switches sound different."

And on. And on. And on... LOL
 
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