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Question about wpc on tube amps

I have been kind of looking at tube amps based on what people seem to think about them.

Here is my question- whenever I look at the wpc, they are remarkably low vs. a solid state amp for the money. 

It leaves me scratching my head. Then, somewhere I read that you can't compare a tube amp with a solid state amp . Something along the lines of "10 watts of tube power equals 100 watts in a SS amp". 

What? Is this real?  Seems unlikely to me. 

Are the wildly low power ratings on the tube amps I am looking at simply due to the fact I am looking at $1,000 amps vs the bajillion dollar amps you guys buy?

Would I be better off spending the money on a tube preamp for the "tube" sound I always hear about. 

I am running Magnepan . 7's  with a Bryston amp. Since the . 7's are power hogs are tubes even a realistic thing for me in my lowish budget? 

Thanks! 

 

timintexas
knotscott
921 posts
 

Depending on the specifics and the configuration of a given amp, tube amps tend to breakup much more gracefully so don't need as much headroom to avoid hard clipping. 

I'm driving average efficiency speakers in a large well damped room with about 12 watts in triode, and can play louder than I want to listen.  My amps are a pair of Dynaco 70s with the VTA mods run as monoblocks.  You can get a single stereo version for ~ $1300 (kits are less), but I have no idea how well they'd push your Maggies.

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,602 posts
 

Low power SETs are great for sensitive speakers.  You don't have those.

Jerry

timintexas OP
18 posts
 

Thanks guys, you all confirmed what I was thinking. I just wasn't certain since I haven't any experience with tube gear.  I will move forward with a tube preamp!  I need a better one anyway. Besides, I never had any beef with my Bryston. It drives the Magnepans quite well. In fact, I bought it on a suggestion from a member on this forum.

Thanks again! 

mesch
3,481 posts
 

What is budget for a tube preamp?

larryi
3,982 posts
 

I am a big tube fan and run very low-powered tube amps with some fairlyefficient speakers.  I have also heard various maggies run with tube amps, some not so powerful, and the sound can be quite amazingly good.  But, there were limitations on how loud the maggies could play with lower powered tube amps.  As for high-powered tube amps, I tend not to like the sound of such amps as much as I like lower powered amps; the high-powered amps tend to have a brittle sound.  Where higher power is a must, I prefer solid state, particularly where there are budget constraints.

I don't think it would be easy to find ANY kind of tube amp at $1,000 that would have enough power and would sound good.  A used tube amp would be a possibility, but, used gear is something someone with experience with tube gear can buy and service, whereas someone without experience might not be as suited to owning such gear.

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