Great thread, fun to read of others' journeys through tube gear. My first tube amp was a Harman Kardon Citation II, which got fully renovated. Then did the same for my HK C-V. They sounded wonderful, but I got tired of the heat they produced here in the desert and the hassle of biasing them so I sold them. The cost of replacing the power tubes was a hassle too. At the time, I felt the Modwright ss amp provided more resolution to the music I was playing through my monitor speakers.
I also had a Fisher 400c which I got recapped and I tell ya, that receiver had the most amazing low end frequency response imaginable... it just had flat out balls on the LF. However, with its array of ~16 tubes, I was always taking it to the tube tech to detect and replace gassy tubes so I sold it. Wonderful amp with a warm midrange.
I had a CJ M45a that melted down at soon as the new buyer got it home, luckily which was locally. Nothing special about that amp other than a very pleasant midrange. I got it fixed and sold it to a very happy buyer.
I now have Spatial Audio M4 Triode Master speakers with a nominal impedance of 12 ohm and after hearing the speakers driven by Don Sach's KT88 amp, I am diving back into a tube amp! My Platinum upgraded McCormack DNA .05 sound plainly two-dimension compared to the glorious articulation, extension, air, and three-dimension sound heard with the tube amp. YMMV, depending on your speakers.
I have for some time thought the magic combination in a system is a tube preamp and a ss amp. With the right speakers and properly powered tube amp, tube amps are still awesome and can do what few ss amps can do.
I hasten to add that there are several manufacturers of new tubes that are sonically equal to or better than many NOS tubes, which are in dwindling supply and are plenty pricey. Shuguang, Psvane, and to a lesser extent, Genelex, make very good tubes that are reasonably priced and quite reliable.
I also had a Fisher 400c which I got recapped and I tell ya, that receiver had the most amazing low end frequency response imaginable... it just had flat out balls on the LF. However, with its array of ~16 tubes, I was always taking it to the tube tech to detect and replace gassy tubes so I sold it. Wonderful amp with a warm midrange.
I had a CJ M45a that melted down at soon as the new buyer got it home, luckily which was locally. Nothing special about that amp other than a very pleasant midrange. I got it fixed and sold it to a very happy buyer.
I now have Spatial Audio M4 Triode Master speakers with a nominal impedance of 12 ohm and after hearing the speakers driven by Don Sach's KT88 amp, I am diving back into a tube amp! My Platinum upgraded McCormack DNA .05 sound plainly two-dimension compared to the glorious articulation, extension, air, and three-dimension sound heard with the tube amp. YMMV, depending on your speakers.
I have for some time thought the magic combination in a system is a tube preamp and a ss amp. With the right speakers and properly powered tube amp, tube amps are still awesome and can do what few ss amps can do.
I hasten to add that there are several manufacturers of new tubes that are sonically equal to or better than many NOS tubes, which are in dwindling supply and are plenty pricey. Shuguang, Psvane, and to a lesser extent, Genelex, make very good tubes that are reasonably priced and quite reliable.