"They don’t do it well, so why do it?."
Somebody is referring to generalities...
Somebody is referring to generalities...
For anyone who moved from tubes to solid state — a question
I'm the happy owner of a fairly new tube preamp and monoblock amps. I love it and have bought new tubes. To have another option for warmer weather or possibly a second listening room, I got a very good solid state integrated. I've run the tube preamp with the solid state amp and it sounds quite nice. I love all tubes, too.
But this question is for you. Please forget the convenience factor for a moment, including the issue of tube replacement etc. Also, forget about those cases where you bought new speakers and needed more power, etc.
Assuming you had quality tube gear with sufficient power — here's the question if you abandoned tubes for SONIC reasons:
What what is that tubes couldn't give you?
What did your solid state gear do for you which was so much better that you divorced to marry anew?
I'm curious about what people list as the positive sonic reasons they love solid state (including A, AB, D, etc.).
Thanks.
But this question is for you. Please forget the convenience factor for a moment, including the issue of tube replacement etc. Also, forget about those cases where you bought new speakers and needed more power, etc.
Assuming you had quality tube gear with sufficient power — here's the question if you abandoned tubes for SONIC reasons:
What what is that tubes couldn't give you?
What did your solid state gear do for you which was so much better that you divorced to marry anew?
I'm curious about what people list as the positive sonic reasons they love solid state (including A, AB, D, etc.).
Thanks.
Showing 4 responses by xenolith
@mapman: Certain that no maintenance is needed; had the amp back to Jon about two years ago...just to check bias and evaluate overall performance. He made a minor bias adjustment and declared it "operating perfectly." And remarkably, the tube amps are a tweaked Williamson circuit...a 73 year old design! Yep, exceptions to all generalities! Modern may generally be better, but not always! Cheers! |
Just to demonstrate the reality that while there are generalities that are generally true, there are also instances where the generality isn't true: The xenoliths have B&W Matrix 801 Series 2 speakers with North Creek crossovers. These speakers are nominal 6 ohm and 87 dB sensitivity. They are among the speakers that have most been referred to as needing big solid state amplification to best perform. We've driven them with a Jon Soderberg modified Threshold Stasis 2 with about 225 watts/channel on tap for the last 17 years. Jon described this amp as comparable to a Pass X250. For completeness, the preamp over that time period has been first an Audio Electronics Supply AE-3 DJH Super preamp and then a Dodd battery powered preamp. Based on the quality of sound we heard, bass included, mrs. xenolith and I have always thought that we were providing plenty of healthy power to our speakers. A couple of months ago we purchased a pair of custom built (they took about 6 months to build) 4 x KT-77 based monoblock amplifiers. These amps weigh approximately 70 lbs. each and produce about 120 watts in ultralinear mode. The bass from our big B&Ws is completely unrecognizable relative to what we'd become familiar with over the last 17 years. Extension seems like a FULL octave lower...we're "hearing" bass notes that are so low that they are more felt than heard. Never heard anything remotely approaching that with our Threshold. Additionally, bass tonality is far more textured and nuanced; makes the bass through the Threshold seem one-note by comparison. Lastly, dynamics, across the frequency spectrum, but in particular with respect to bass, are explosive compared to the sluggish "dynamics" produced by the Threshold. The big 12" woofers of the 801s have always had great "growl", now they also have great "bite". Anyhoo, FWIW. |
Correction: the Matrix 801 Series 2 speaker is nominal 8 Ohms (not the 6 Ohms that I had reported). Specifications: https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-matrix-801-series-2-loudspeaker-specifications With 3 minima of about 6 Ohms. Measurements: https://www.stereophile.com/content/bw-matrix-801-series-2-loudspeaker-measurements Perhaps this helps explain how the new tube amps sound so great with them. Anyhoo, for the record. |