tube amp shoot-out

Welcome to the audiophile club. You have discovered what all of us have discovered, is that audio equipment is all about compromises. As the equipment gets better (and usually more expensive!), the compromises get smaller. But, the compromises never really go away, they just get smaller and smaller until as some point, they become almost irrelevant.

By the way, have you checked out the Music Reference 200?
(This was one of the tube amps I researched heavily, before finally deciding that tube amps were not for me after all.) They go for about $2k, used.

My two cents worth anyway.

Good Luck in your search.

If you can check out used Atma-Sphere M60s, you might find a winner that would nicely drive the Proacs. The Air Tights are nice, but you might need to spend more to get something with enough power. Cheers,
Spencer

Tpsonic: Thanks for the tip. Any kind of website--photos, all that? (Aesthetics matter to me, greatly.)

Kurt: No news to me! I'm afraid I've been in the club for longer than I ever intended to, and my bank account shows it. It's a matter of how much money to spend to minimize the compromises!

Haven't found any used Music References yet, but if I end up seriously considering the Snappers, they're in the same price range. Why did you decide that tubes were not for you?

Sbank: Thanks for the tip. I'll look them up.

Kevin

In response to your question:

I have a friend who has an incredible stereo system.
(Avalon Eidolon speakers, ARC Ref. 1 preamp, Aesthetix Rhea phono preamp, VPI HRX TT, with Koetsu Urushi cartridge, and a Opus 21 cd player.) He and I have tried several tube mono blocks to augment his Classe CA401 (400wpc) SS amp. He tried the Kora Cosmos (100wpc), the Bat VK-150 (150wpc), the Manley Neo Classic 250 (250wpc) and the VTL MB-450's (450 wpc). (Lucky for me, I got to listen to them all!)

They all sounded great, but his speakers, like mine (I have the Revel Studios), are somewhat difficult to drive to realistic sound levels. This meant that all but the VTL's, did not have enough power to drive the speakers without clipping. (The Manleys almost made it, but they did clip, albeit gently, on a very large symphonic piece at very loud levels). Therefore, he settled on the VTL's.

Now, note the prices on these amplifiers, even used they are between $3,000 and $5,000 minimum. (Not counting the cost of retubing them, which is substantial). While I could afford that, maybe, I could not afford to do what he is doing, which is keep both his solid state amp and have his tube amps. He needs to do this because we live in California, where is gets pretty hot. (Neither of us has air conditioning either. Our priorities are stereos, not creature comforts like AC!)

We did a fair amount of auditioning of these amps late at night, with the windows open. Nighttime temperatures was in the 60's. Except in his dedicated and rather large listening room, where after only a few hours of listening, the temperature reached the mid to upper 80's! We were both sweating pretty good. (Good thing we had cold beer on hand!) Anyway, he now uses the tube amps during normal to cool days and uses the solid state amp on warm to hot days.

Now, my house is even hotter than his, since I live on a mountain ridge with a southern exposure. I can not afford to install AC in my house (it is an older house, and it would cost a small fortune), and I don't have the money to own two sets of amps. Therefore, I have decided to keep my Mark Levinson No. 23 (200wpc) amp. It sounds great, but maybe not quite as good as his tube amps. But then again, I'll sacrafice that little bit of sonics for a 20 degree cooler listening enviroment.

I know, this was a rather long winded response, but now you know the reasons I keep my SS amp, rather than switching to tubes. (Besides, to be perfectly honest, I was not dissatisfied with the Levinson amp, I merely wanted a change. I'm sure you know how that goes!)

Kmikey.for a photo,check the Innersound website {iTube}.They were hired By Innersound ,before the company was taken over,to build a tube amp capable of driving electrostatic speakers without clipping.The "new guys" at Innersound were trying to short them on their portion of the profits.They never signed the contract,thankfully or the amps would have been built in China with many parts substituted.I may be able to help on pricing,Terry is a friend and fellow audiophile.