Hybrid vs. Straight Tubes

Have owned SS up until just a few days ago, when I had and took the opportunity to trade my Nuforce class D 160w mono's for a Cary Rocket 88R (30w triode/60 ultralinear). Despite the low power rating I notice no degradation in sound quality, even at fairly loud levels running in triode. I was afraid that my Usher 87db/8 ohm (dipping into 4 ohms) speakers wouldn't be a good match for tubes. The Cary is happily putting that notion to bed. Quite happy with the sound.

I'll add that I had 3 different tubed preamps in front of my SS amps over the time I owned them, none of the combinations have come close to the character of the tube amp/passive pre combo I'm running now. The magic IME lies in tubed amplification.

Mechans' comment re: "tube output stage is critical, period" is probably fair enough, overall. In the case of the RS6, it's even more applicable. Speakers which have a spike in impedence in the presence range (IIRC, the RS6 qualifies - as does the Merlin VSM, another speaker that "flatters" tube output stages) sound more dynamic and alive with the right tubed ouput stage. You might get a taste with tubed drivers and SS output, but you won't get the whole deal.

Good Luck.

Marty

It's Monday! and I was back at work after 3 weeks off. But the good news is... I did bring a sound level meter home (TES 1350A).

I measured the level in my sweet-spot at the volume levels described below. Each level was measured while listening to various pieces of music (Take 5 Dave Brubeck, and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater - "Quando corpus morietur"). The distance from the speaker to the sweet spot is 3m.

1 - Normal Listening (WAF 10)-> 55 to 65 peak to 70 dB
2 - My Optimal (WAF 6) -> 70 to 82 peaks to 86 dB
3 - Loudest setting "Nick Turn the music down!" (WAF 0) -> 80 to 88 peak at 96

I then took more measurements for the first two settings playing a 1kHz tone and measuring the level at 1m.

Level 1 - 75 dB
Level 2 - 90 dB

So to conclude, Tvad if I understand you correctly with 1wpc I would have just enough power to listen at my optimal level. But since I do not want to be driving my amp at full power constantly a 10wpc would be preferable. 30wpc would provide more power than required.

But the above conclusion is strictly considering the rated wattage and not the dynamic power (point raised by Pubul57). Is there anyway to determine an amps dynamic power from it's specs?

Is there anyway to determine an amps dynamic power from it's specs?
Nick_sr (System | Answers)

This is going to sound too basic, but you can often go by the weight of an amp, because the size of the transformer(s) and related power supply parts has a lot to do with dynamic capability. Large power supplies equal large dynamic capability.

So given two amps with equal power ratings and topologies (e.g., compare tube amps to each other, and solid state amps to each other), compare their respective weights. Go with the heavier amp.

On this Pass Labs webpage, click on the article titled "Power Supplies", and skip to the Conclusion section. Read the last two paragraphs.