larryi
Responses from larryi
| Leaving tube amps on. I have not owned high-powered tube amps. None of the amps I’ve owned really required much warm up. I turn them on and start listening immediately. If they seem a bit off, that goes away in a minute or so. If the sound is enjoyable right from t... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 Yes, as I mentioned above, OTLs may not work with a low impedance load. Adding a transformer to lower the amp’s output impedance sort of defeats the purported advantage of being transformerless. I personally don’t care about such theoretical pro... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 I would add to audiotroy's list: 1. Dynamics--tube gear sounds more alive and dynamic, particular at low volume. Solid state has to be cranked up much louder to come alive. 2. Natural/realistic attack/transients--the initial attack of a note s... | |
| Leaving tube amps on. As jea48 says, most decent tube gear has a soft start circuit or if tube rectified, rely on the rectifier to gently bring the power up. It makes sense, from an equipment/tube preservation standpoint to turn off tube gear when not using it. In par... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 If the requirement for balanced design limits choices to much, I would ditch that criterion. There are MUCH more important things at play than the relatively trivial advantage of balanced design. You do need to somehow hear various amps and make... | |
| Garrard 301 - Project I understand you are getting the Rosewood Signature Platinum (outstanding choice in my opinion). Koetsu cartridges are somewhat unique in terms of having a rich, warm sound without being murky. If you own just one cartridge, that is a great choi... | |
| Garrard 301 - Project The matching of cartridge to an analogue rig is primarily a consideration of the tonearm. The Rosewood Signature Platinum is best used with a high effective mass tonearm. The cartridge will sound very good even when the match is not ideal, but, ... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 I like OTL amps—they tend to be very vivid and lively. But, because of their high output impedance, they tend to work best with high impedance speakers and not ones rated at 4 ohms. The M-60 is quite good, but it is also not on the warm side ton... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 The ARC VT80SE is a fully balanced amp so it fits your specifications. I don't consider it a warm sounding amp, but that is a very subjective judgment. I have never heard the Lab 12 Suara, but, nothing in the description suggests that it is full... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 I understand the cosmetic requirement. But, why insist on balanced connection? If it is that important, you would be limited to truly balanced tube topology and I would bet that is pretty limited (like Balanced Audio Technology). Otherwise, eve... | |
| Stereophile review of the $30,000 tekton speakers audioman58, I heard those giant ESP speakers back around 2000-01, and I liked them a lot. But, I knew it would be hard for them to succeed. The sound was beautifully balanced and natural, but it lacked the kind of WOW factor that is often neede... | |
| must you play music to break in tubes The crackling and sputtering sounds I've heard that went away with time took about a minute or two to go away. I've heard similar sounds where the tube pins made poor contact with the socket. You could try cleaning the pins and re-inserting the ... | |
| must you play music to break in tubes My tubes are dead quiet except for those rare instances I mentioned above. Get rid of them just for these minor sins--they have worked well for me for a very long time even though they were old and used tubes (tested strong) when I got the amp. ... | |
| must you play music to break in tubes You can turn the volume down while waiting for the noise to clear. If it is what glennewdick described, it doesn't take that long to clear up. The particles will burn up and the problems stop. I hear that crackling rustling noise very rarely, a... | |
| Tube amps under $7500 A lot of difference in the house sound of CJ and ARC amps, so it is interesting that some have recommended both. You need to at least sample dome of the brands recommended. I particularly endorse the recommendation of Synthesis amps. I cannot t... |