To Tube or not to Tube......


For quite some time now I've been thinking about switching from a solid state to a tube power amp. My Threshold T-100 has been real good to me and I do like it, but it's really the only "high-end" amp I've ever owned, so it's all I know. I'm intrigued by the "warm" sound of tubes and do have a tubed phono amp and CD player, but I am by no means well-versed in the sound of tube power amps having never really auditioned one. I know that goes against the prevailing wisdom and I should listen before I buy, but I don't think I will have the luxury of doing that.

That being said, I've gone through about 20 pages of this forum reading about the benefits and detriments of tubed power amps but nothing I've read has swayed me either way. The posts I've read have been informative re: bias issues, reliability, blowing fuses or whatever else might blow up or go wrong with the tubs, etc. So, if I were to go the tube route, I would not want deal with too much of that hassle. At lease I know that the amp I have doesn't have any such issues. That's why I was leaning toward amps like BAT with their auto biasing (I also need balanced inputs), and would want at least 60-100 wpc. I would be willing to deal with adjusting bias so long as it was a relatively simple process.

I figured I would pose my main question to the exerts here (and this I did learn for this forum): given what I already have in my system, what tube amp would be a good match for me? My pre-amp is a SS Threshold, JM Lab speakers with a "minimum impedance of 4 Ohms," EAR 834P phono stage, & Unison tube cd player.
Much appreciated.
ebuzz
"Should I use the 4 ohm or 8 ohm tap?"
Yes ;-)
Only your ears can say for sure.
The specs you provided would indicate a suitable match for a tube amp, though having the phase angle would further help. Considering the other specs, I doubt it would be an issue. Though tube friendly, they aren't ss unfriendly.
I think if you can get enough sound from a power amp with 4 output tubes, you've made yourself a somewhat less heat producing choice, and buying tubes is cheaper...I've had my eye on those Cary 120S amps but hesitate to buy one when I think about the 8 power tubes to roll.
Well, I do have my eye on a ARC VS-115 and a BAT V-60 if the A-gon member still wants to sell it as well as the Jolida.