Just one problem, atmasphere, and sorry to say because this may be the death knell, but you are absolutely right and I agree completely. You even suggest a mod, which I have done many times and agree with as well. Sorry. Sorry.
What would you buy
I am a tube lover. I currently have a Rogue Chronus Magnum and Vandys 2 sig E. I'm thinking upgrading my system. I believe I can get 1K for the Rogue and add 5K for a total of 6K available to spend. planning to keep the Vandys but I feel that my taste desires a little more bass than what I'm getting now. Vandys are great in the mids , voices etc but it lacks some deep bass. The Rogue doesn't have an output for a sub woofer. Musical taste is classic rock, jazz and blues. Here is the question with 6K to spend in amp/pre, integrated or mono/amp, what would you buy?
Showing 4 responses by millercarbon
Watts are watts, doesn’t matter how they are derived. The tube amps clip much more gracefully and that is the reason they sound more powerful. Then why did every one I tried sound more powerful even when driven nowhere near clipping? Three different solid state amps, 150 to 200 wpc, the best of which was the McCormack DNA1, but with less dynamism, mass slam and control, than 50 and 60 wpc tube amps. Its not true in every case. There are anemic sounding tube amps, just as there are POS SS. Its probably more the transformers than the tubes but whatever, point is, they are so not the same its actually kinda odd to be having an argument about it. I mean heck not even all SS watts are the same. They sure don't sound the same. Everyone knows it. Amplifiers sound different. Your position is simply untenable and only goes to show the hole you can dig yourself into when you rely too much on tech talk. Vandersteens at 86 dB are admittedly at the bottom of the range of suitable speakers. But that's the bottom of the range of suitable speakers, period. Because sound is logarithmic, the power needed to produce it increases exponentially. Not linear. Its a big mistake ever to buy a speaker this inefficient in the first place. But if you have one, still its better to drive it with watts that sound good than watts that don't. |
With what you just said, I would put half into a Swarm/distributed bass array. This will give you awesome unbeatable bass with any speakers you may use going forward. With the rest, and maybe a little more, the Raven Nighthawk https://www.ravenaudio.com/product/nighthawk-mk3-tube-amplifier/ This together will be almost exactly your $6k budget and a HUGE IMPROVEMENT across the board. Plus notice the Raven has not only a sub out but also a built-in crossover for extra flexibility. If you build your DBA like I did then you can have either beautiful wood finish and two Dayton amps all for under $3k, OR you could have just as good quality bass with one Dayton amp and cheaper finish on the subs and keep the cost well under $2k. Either way this combo, the DBA and the Raven, will be darn near unbeatable for $6k. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 |