Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice

Happy New Year everybody,

For those that are interested, I reinserted my Thiels and DNA-500 and got instantly reconnected with what I liked about that combo - there just is a good weight and tone to that combination.

In comparison, the small Tyler Acoustics MM5x's and CJ tube amp are ..well...a bit more thin, less solid sounding. The dynamics and sound stage are better with the Tylers and the CJ tube amp. Detail is more in your face with the Thiels compared to the Tylers, which are just as resolving but more... soft...?...laid back. Both setups have pace but the Tylers with the tube amp seem more musical. 

I knew the Tylers (SEAS Excel drivers for tweeters and mids with Dayton 10 inch woofers) were probably not going to be "right" for me as they are more of an entry level speaker. My original goal was just to get a handle on tube amp sound and the Tyler sound; both of which I like.

Tyler is willing to build me a pair Linbrook Signatures if I want them. These come with all SEAS magnesium drivers and Millennium tweeters. I expect that these would provide the weight and tone. They are 48 inches tall, which I think is a good fit in my listening room. 

The caveat is that the Linbrooks come with dual woofers so they are a four ohm, 88 dbl speaker. So...now my new question is can one find good tube amps that will drive a 4 ohm speaker that might dip to 3 ohms?

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

@dsper Ask him if he can wire the woofers in series rather than parallel. It will require a little bit of adjustment in the crossover but otherwise the math of the drivers in the box is exactly the same. Contrary to popular myth, the woofers will be no less easy to 'control'. But it will make the speaker much more friendly to tube amps and all amps will have lower distortion driving a load like that.

There is a great deal of tube amp experience offered in many of the submissions.  The sheer volume of responses reflects the complexity of the variables involved.  If there really was a simple answer, we would all have had our respective audio epiphanies long ago.  There are MANY very fine tube (and of course solid state) amps in all price points.  The salient variable is, simply put, your own personal taste.  How many times have you heard that, right?  I have been on the quixotic search for 50 years and it has led me everywhere.  Fundamentally, the answer is relative.  At present, I have a McIntosh MC275VI and a Benchmark DAC3 with a pair of Triangle Signature Theta bookshelves and a REL T5i playing classical and jazz via Tidal.  Perfection?  Yes, whatever “perfection” means.  Somewhat of a minimalist system, it combines new and old tech and sounds exquisite.

Life is too short for me buying a conventional tubes amplifier: heat and  distortion from failing tubes with a life that is shorten by each months....I hate heat.... 😁

Perhaps i dramatize a bit....

But go read about the Berning ZOTL tube technology....

No heat at all....

Super extended tube life... Like more than 10 years of use each day....

NO negative reviews at all, all glowing reviews....

For the low price a steal..... It is what they say....I never  try one but it is what i will buy eyes closed....

At least read about ZOTL.....This is my goal with this post.....Read about it....

Berning is a physicist that reinvented tube use in audio.... It is not a frequent event....


Good luck....

Man if I was new to tubes, this thread would leave me confused and wondering where to go.

Forget the numbers for a bit. Just go and listen to a few tube amps in your budget range and a few slightly higher in price. Listen to a range of tube types - EL34’s, 6500/KT88, and SET amps such as 300b tubes. You may find you prefer the sound of specific tube types, although newer amps seem to blur the line between how specific tubes should “sound”.

Power is important but it shouldn’t dictate your decision, it’s just a factor. I’ve successfully run low powered SET amps with less efficient speakers, and I’ve had higher powered amps struggle to sound good with super efficient speakers. Try out with your speakers and read forums to see what has worked well with other owners who use your speakers.

A pragmatic factor with tube amps is the number and cost of the tubes. You’ll be tempted to try different tubes which do sound different, and that is far more costly on a 300b amp than with an EL34 amp, and costly on amps that use a lot of tubes or esoteric, NOS tubes. I try to avoid amps that use tubes I can’t easily source online.
I currently use a 300b 10wpc SET amp (Woo WA5) to drive Devore Nines, which are tube friendly. The same amp did well with ProAc Super Tablettes which shouldn’t be as friendly. I’ve owned more powerful EL34 amps (the mighty AirTight ATM3 mono amps) and will shortly own a Leben CS600x, which is 30ish watts. I’ve had failures with well lauded amps (the WAVAC being an example that didn’t work for me) and pleasant surprises with amps that were not well known (remember the Antique Sound Labs)?

There are few rules that seem to be absolute with tubes, other than avoiding pairing with speakers that are low impedance (and not running unless you have speakers connected as was mentioned). Tube amps are fun, wonderful creatures that will delight you, and if you choose well, will encourage you to try different tubes and enjoy. Biasing is not hard with most amps - a ten dollar multimeter and a screw driver is all you need in most cases, and most newer amps use auto bias.

My favorite reasonably priced tube amps (may mean buying used) of those I’ve heard, and which mate with a decent range of speakers, include:

VAC Avatar SE
Leben CS600 series
Line Magnetic amps
Audio Research VT60
VTL amps (newer)