I think it depends what kind of tube amplifiers. The are number of types: 1. Low power SET under 10 watt - 45, 2A3, 300B, PX25, AD1,... 2. High power SET over 10 watt - 211, 845,... 3. Small push-pull up to 20 watt - EL84, 6V6,... 4. Mid power push-pull 20-50 watt - EL34, KT66,... 5. High power push-pull over 50 watt - KT88,... 6. OTL It also depends for what kind of speakers these amplifiers for. |
When I had Spendor 2/3 speakers I liked these speakers in combination with McIntosh MC30 monoblocks from 1950x. Than I moved on to high sensitive speakers Altec 604E I recognised that 30 Watt push-pull is too rough for such speakers. I decided to go to 300B SET DIY amplifier. For high sensitive speakers SET sound much more refined and transparent and not less musical than McIntosh. After living 17 years with high sensitivity speakers, I will never go back to low sensitivity. As a result, high power tube amplifiers are no longer interesting to me. |
Hi @larryi , What kind of power supply capacitors did Western Electric use in 59A amplifier? I'm not sure it was already the mass production of electrolytic capacitor then. So probably they used oil capacitors with paper and foil. This capacitors in PS sound much better than any kind of electrolytic including BG and AN Kaisai.I tried Soviet KBG-MN capacitors made with the similar technology. They really sound magical. |
Hi @atmasphere , Which modern 6SN7 are better than NOS? I currently use Ken-Rad VT-231 from the 1940s in the input stage of my integrated 300B SET. They are not the most expensive NOS but still to change the pair of these tubes is expensive for me. Regards, Alex. |
