If you want the system to work well with tubes, the first thing is to sort out if the speaker is OK with that. Take a look at
[ur]http://www.atma-sphere.com/Resources/Paradigms_in_Amplifier_Design.php[/url]
If your speaker is designed to work with amps that are voltage sources (Voltage Paradigm) you will do a lot of struggling to find a tube amp that will work with it.
Good Luck! |
You need not go to Canada for Psvane & Shuguang tubes.
Contact Audiogon member TRELJA for the best service and pricing available.
Check for his ads on Audiogon. |
The speaker you have will dictate what is suitable for you in terms of an amplifier. Is your speaker tube friendly? What is the impedance curve like for your speakers? Are they sensitive enough to be driven by tube amps?
Synergy of the system is very important. Not knowing the details of your system it is very difficult to give sane advise.
If I was in the market to buy a tube amp, with no nonsense engineering, sensible pricing and superb sound I would have Cayin at the top of my list. They make a variety of amps to suit every budget and power needs.
Hope this helps |
"actually i have a difficulty to match speaker systems with."
What's the difficulty? What speakers? What preamplifier? What source? Budget?
Amplifier suggestions without any system information, clever. |
I wouldn't go with an off branded component. If you need that soft sound go for a Mac. |
I'd say it's more like EL84 based amps. |
Zabiaud..If you are after that warm, lush, very smooth sweet sound then you should consider the tubes rather then the brand of the tube amp itself. There's a company out of China, called Psvane & Shuguang. Their tubes are made like tubes were in the late fifties and early sixties. With heavy filaments and thick envelopes. They are pricey but have a very long life. The tubes are beautifully cased in wood boxes. They are the best built tubes on the market.
Go to the Grant Fidelity website in Canada. They are the North America Distributor and you can buy direct. Again, these tubes have a very classic sound that was common fifty
years ago and are warmer and richer than other tubes of today. Some may find these tubes too warm and laid back and overly lush. but thats what I prefer personally so it all depends how much warmth your after. |
Early, Which model do you have and what tube was it designed with (Vaic-KR)? |
The Butler TDB-2250 has gotten high praise for its unique design and very high-current output. Google it and see what others are saying...
http://butleraudio.com/tdb2250.php
-RW- |
I agree with Hifigeek. Look into EL 34 based amps. I have a older Jolida 1000 integrated amp in a second system and it's sweet as syrup with great inter detail. |
I auditioned the Mac 275 and the Cary CAD 120s and chose Cary over the Mac due to the Mac sounding more SS than Tube. The Mac ran cool compared to a lot of other tube amps though. |
Is your system extremely bright that your looking for those less than neutral traits? |
I happen to have a sweet Mastersound 300b available. |
Cary, Jadis, and Quicksilver usually exhibit these traits.
Overall, I'd recommend the (normally) 6L6 and (sometimes) KT88 as well as the aforementioned 300B. |
Most amps with EL-34 outputs sound very sweet and liquid. |
I agree with Meiwan that you should set your sights on a 300B amp. Among the superior brands are Art Audio, Larry D. Moore, Fi and Wavelength Audio. Many people agree that the Wavelength Cardinal X2 is superb. |
You might look at 300B based amps. They tend to be the most 'tubey' sounding.
Mastersound make wonderful sounding tube amps - very unlike the US made amps, which don't have that tube magic.
Of course the brand of tubes themselves make a big difference. Most current production tubes sound pretty sterile, which is what you get stock in all of them. |
The problem is that the sound of any of these amps will vary with the speaker they are used with. Tell us what speakers you are going to use and we can be more helpful
Alan |
