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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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,236 posts
 
Nostubeman,
You captured well the special qualities of good tube components particularly the power amplifiers. Tactile presence, flesh on the bone and true natural tonality= convincing realism. So far as with you I've not gotten this level of believability from any SS amplifier, at least so far.
Charles,
wolf_garcia
6,631 posts
 
Nostubeman has 5 tube amps in his listening room and consequently doesn't own a sweater. I too have noticed the palpable image created by my rig of musicians "in the room," which I often prefer to having real musicians in my room as they tend to drink all my booze.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
LOL Wolf!!! As I now embark on my tube-life, I was wondering what sort, if any, isolation devices are best placed under my amp and preamp? Rubber? African Zebra wood? Myrtle wood? or perhaps the old rubber inner tube trick?
kencoinc
1 posts
 
definitely TUBE, biggest fattest tubes you can get, and it will almost always sound better if you have the knowledge and determination to build the amp yourself, just a thought, I am currently building a very customized modded out VTA ST/70 Dynaco and have thrown out the idea of EL34s for KT88s but am now thinking about KT120s, I believe this is going to become a very hot tube the 120 so I am buying them up while the price is not out of this world yet. kk
wolf_garcia
6,631 posts
 
I stuck some substantial sorbothane feet I've had for years under the amp as it's about 50 lbs...and Vibrapods under the preamp and CD player. I also have little stick-on sorbothane feet under my DAC and phono preamp, and even under my Squeezebox Touch...if nothing else they keep things put as they're sticky little bastards. It makes sense to place the "pods" touching the bottom plate and NOT the feet as that can allow them to absorb or dampen more of the pesky, unwanted vibes.
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