Tube Equipment: Gimmick?

Those of you who do not understand the hype concerning tubes have never tried them. I am an electronics engineer too and was also prejudaced by the modern scientific school of thought. That is until I stumbled onto a Jolida 302b and a pair of Klipsch Forte' for cheap. When I brought them home I was expecting the typical Klipsch sound that I was accustomed to - brutally cold and hard. I was blown away! The sound was earily live, smooth, detailed, and warm. I swapped the Jolida out with my ADCOM GFA-555. The familiar ugly Klipsch sound returned. I am sold on tubes. Don't waste your money though, buy a cheap tube amp and experiment with replacing tubes. If you currently own any pair of Klipsch and do not have tubes driving them, you owe it to yourself to try it. I would not waste my time typing this if it was not the most dramatic thing I have ever heard.

John

Hey Joncin, and breathrin-

Today's sermon will be on the wonders of the vacum tube.....

You hit the friggen jackpot with that combination as far as I'm concerned! It took me twenty years to figure that one out. I'd heard my friend's system which paired off some vintage Quad's with an old Dynaco ST-70 back in the early 80's and I would NEVER forget that sound. I just had the hardest time getting up and walking away from it and if his wife didn't kick me out I'd probably still be there listening to it. I settled for SS not wanting the hassle of tubes, and went with a BK amp which was actually pretty decent for SS at the time for a poor young photo assistant living in NYC. Many ears later and 3000 miles west of NY I was reborn by the exact same combination you mention: a Jolida 302B with Klipsch Forte II's! I shit you not good people! It was an inspired purchase by my recollection of that Quad/Dynaco system that I couldn't get out of my head, and boy was it an awakening. Damn Slappy, sorry, but I realize I'm starting to sound downright evangelical and I really don't mean to, but it was as if someone turned a light on! Acutally, I guess I do mean to....screw it....praise the glowing globes!!! I've since moved onward along the same path and have been stuck on SET for the past year and found my personal preference lies there. I've also stuck with Klipsch Heritage speakers and found nothing else I've tried or listened to offers more bang for the buck, which is amazing considering Paul Klipsch designed them back in the 50's and 60's! I also found Mike Sanders excellent Quicksilver amps provide similar value and combine brilliantly with the Klipsch speakers I came to love. Okay, enough preaching. I just got excited by the coincedence of being reborn by the same combination as brother John. Back to the fray, name-calling, bad-mouthing, brawling, bad manners and belching. Hey, Kt88, I didn't use any curse words......well, nothing really bad anyway.

Oh, and my mind remains wide open to the demonic persuasion of SS and the evil people who follow that satanic ritual. Yes, that is a joke.....But I still wouldn't let my dog listen to an SS system. Bahaahahaahaaha!

Marco

Marco.

Solid state EVIL?

Hmm... Maybe that is why i feel compelled to burn pentagrams and upside-down crosses in my carpet when i listen to my rig.

You might be on to something here!

Maybe SS actually stands for SATAN STATE amplifiers?

MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!

-Satan State Slappy-

Slappy,

I had a look at your virtual system being that you're an evil SS type and hoping to find pics of some neat gothic/modernist pentagrams in your rug and saw some of the coolest pictures on the 'GoN'.

For the next update of my VS I'm gonna get "Slappy" and post some strange ass pictures of my rig!

Gunbei:

I'll take the clean-shaven blonde. ;)

Aggie, I definitely can't dispute your choice, brother! I guess a better way of me stating my preference is that I enjoy eating both vanilla and chocolate ice cream. But I'll get more scoops of chocolate, heheh.