Two things about tubes

I've had two tube preamps, and one tube integrated. If you have efficient speakers and you sit close you MIGHT hear a slight hiss if your room is otherwise very quiet. My tube integrated is dead quiet with my 92db Von Schweikert speakers. I like to turn my tube gear on 15-30 minutes before I sit down to listen.

I listen within a few minutes but quietly at first and after ten minutes let er rip...

my speakers are 97 db and no problem with noise.

I have a tube pre and power amplifiers and they`re silent. My speakers are 94db sensitivity.Power amp sounds good even when cold(initial start up) after 25-30 minutes it`s full steam ahead.
Best Regards,

Do the tubes gear need a pre-heat time before starting to listening to ???

I start listening to a tube amp when I first turn it on, and it sounds good. After 20 minutes or so, it seems to reach it's best sound.

Do the tubes are noise and able to produce enough audible noise between songs ??

Not unless there is a noisy or defective tube in the amp/preamp. Tube and SS amps can give a little hiss if you put you ear against the speaker, but not from you listening spot. Someone must have a bad tube or anther problem if they said that.

Pardon typos.

I have a tube integrated and it is silent. Mine will play music within a few seconds of powering on but it does take about 10 - 20 min to get fully heated up and sounding great. Oh yeah for what ever it is worth my speakers are 85db.

Don't be afraid to name names guys. It's nice your amps are quiet but how can we find a quiet one unless we know which ones they are?

I have a Shindo Auriges preamp and ASL Hurricane power amps. System is dead quiet. Can't tell it is on until music starts playing. This is true even when I am using the phono stage of the Shindo. But a little tube rush that you can't hear from your listening position is really nothing to worry about

03-20-11: Ddd1
Don't be afraid to name names guys. It's nice your amps are quiet but how can we find a quiet one unless we know which ones they are?
Ddd1 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

After having so many different combination's of gear, this one is still easy, no noisy ones. The only ones that had noise had a bad tube, or something else wrong. I do tube swapping looking for better sounding tubes and wore out sockets in the past. That will make noise. I still can't name a noisy one. I haven't tried the Chinese imports, just mainly the American ones, European, and all were quiet. A lot from Audible Illusions to VAC, and others between. Conrad Johnson too.

What about the chinese brands ?? Are they noisy ???

I have a Jolida integrated 502BRC and it's absolutely quiet even with my ear up to the mid and tweeter and volume at 90% with no signal. (spkrs 93 db eff.)

Jorge, reasonable questions, but don't worry so much. Yes, tubes sound better after they warm up and settle down for a half hour or so, but they work fine after about 30 seconds, and it will not harm them. Some gear has a "soft turn-on circuit" which brings them up gradually, which extends tube life, but if it doesn't have this circuitry, they are good to go quickly. Yes, chinese tubes tend to be not quite as quiet as expensive NOS, but they will still be adequate, unless you have astounding gear or very sensitive ears. New tubes seem to be improving in some cases, Shuguang Golden Treasure, Psvanne, and Genelex Gold Lion remakes are pretty good tubes. Yes, there can be a little hiss between songs if the volume is very high and your room is extremely quiet, but most people are not bothered by it. People who are bothered too much by "tube rush" get solid state gear and tolerate a different set of limitations. This may be an oversimplification, but it tends to matter most if you listen to classical symphonic music a lot, which has huge dynamics (so you may notice the hiss during very quiet passages.) If you listen mostly to rock and pop, you will rarely be bothered by tube noise. You do have to match the preamp and amp, as a mismatch can exacerbate the tube noise issue. To some extent, more expensive gear may be quieter, but that is not necessarily because of the tubes. Some of this stuff, all you can do is try it, and gradually, you will refine your own preferences.

Excellent response from Lloydc

Hello all,

Just wanted to add that I find solid-state to take a heck of a lot longer than tubes to sound their best. I'm a happy owner of BAT tube gear and with good tubes they are indeed dead quite.

best,
Tom

Q1 Yes, and a bit longer for SS (unless you leave it on all
the time)

Q2. Not an issue unless you have a bad tube. In a phono
stage you would need tubes measured for being especially
quiet, but most tubes would sound fine. I have never heard
tube rush from the seating position.

Not sure either issue would be a reason not to buy a tube
preamp or amp; and there are a lot of reasons to do so with
tube-friendly speakers (tube amps do not work well with all
speakers, speakers that need SS high current to drive their
impedance swings and dips to 4ohms and below -- not an issue
with tube preamps, though some tube preamps don't match well
with low input impedance SS amps ).