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My first Tube Amplifier

I have a 40 years of audio history starting with Garrard Turntable, Fisher Intergrated(SS), ADS bookself speaker on 1978.

But I started using tube amplifier on 1999.

Since then I had been using only tube amplifier in my main system.

My last SS main amplifier was Krell KSA 150 to drive Apogee Duetta Signature speakers.


http://www.jadis-electronics.com/photos/ja500/45/3/ja500.jpg

My first tube amplifier was Jadis 500 which comprised of 4 pieces weighing 120 lb each.

B&W 801 driven by Jadis 500 gave most deep and powerful bass at my home.

But it generated too much heat so it was hard to use during summer.

It was memorable experience to use it for 4 years.

I may not go back to such monster tube amplifier again.



How about you?

What is your first tube amplifier?



I bet two cents on no one had used larger one as the first tube amplifier than mine.


128x128shkong78
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
979 posts
 
Shkong78,

The OTL3s are almost impossible to come by. I’d be surprised if there were 1,000 pair surviving, most in Japan most likely. I can ask Jon to keep an eye out for a pair, but short of having him build a new pair from scratch, you may be waiting a long while.

I believe that Atma-Sphere makes a pair but I am not sure, and I think there is a company in Texas that introduced a model a few years back. I never heard either so I cannot vouch for them. I have heard a recording of Mikis Theodorakis’s “Canto General” that was recorded and mastered by Atma-Sphere: I found it to be a little disappointing from an engineering point of view, sadly so since artistically it competes well with the Farandouri performance.
shkong78's avatar
shkong78 OP
1,485 posts
 
@ unreceivedogma

Thanks a lot for valuable information.

I am not sure whether OTL tube amplifier mate well with my speakers.

Thus If I buy used one, I can take less loss even if I decide to sell it again.
atomheart411
3 posts
 

A little bit to the side but on the topic of tube amps, especially seeing as a few musicians have brought up guitar amps....I usually have my Event Audio 20/20 speakers being run by my Class D Audio SDS 470-C power amp. Digital audio input via a MOTU 828X. I record and mix via this system as well as do my pleasure listening. Good enough for my ears battered by years of stage volume. The other day I realized that I had never tried playing recorded music through my Mesa Boogie 50/50 6L6 powered stereo power amp. Eventually found the cables I needed , hooked it up and as I had just been listening to "Up From The Skies" from "Axis Bold As Love" by Jimi Hendrix I hit play again and was immediately intrigued. I went back and forth between the 470-C and the 50/50 several times and it was undeniable. There was a clarity to the mid range with the 50/50 that was amazing! Noel Redding is playing a simple two note bass line mostly and I could hear so much more of the attack of each note. It sounded so much more like my bass player was sitting in the studio with his amp. There's a sound that fingers on bass strings make that's unmistakable. Never heard that on the 470-C. Really clear on the 50/50. Now the bass on the 50/50 was crap. No amount of tweakage between the preamp and the amp could keep it from distorting at good listening levels. But that mid range! Such clarity and depth.

   I'm not an audiophile but I do a lot of critical listening and I'm suddenly wondering what I've been missing without a good tube power amp to drive my monitors. There are a lot of times I'm struggling to hear some difference between components. Not this time. Even my tired old ears could not deny it. So I guess the moral of the story is I'm looking for a decent tube amp to power my monitors now. Are 6L6 tubes just not up to the task or is it just the amp design?



 

roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The venerable 6L6 (late '30s) is an excellent output tube. Limited to about 20-25 watts for a PP pair. Its sound quality is limited to the make of the output transformer. Cheap ones, like in the Mesa Boogie, have problems with bass and high frequencies (hysterisis distortion caused by core saturion at low frequencies and capacitance/phase shift affecting highs). Excellent output transformers can cost a lot (hard to build). Tango (Japan) may be the best! I have seen the Mercury (US) transformers advertised. You might consider buying a pair and using them in your Mesa Boogie as an upgrade! 
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Alternately, you could buy a nicely restored pair of Heath W5 mono tube amps. 6L6 PP with outstanding transformers (Peerless). A true classic! I have a pair, so it's an easy recommendation! Can be found on EBAY!
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