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I'm going back to tubes... a question for y'all

It's been years and years, but I remember the sound my old Stromburg Carlson used to put out. Also grandmas old Packard Bell. My vintage Marantz had 'the sound' also.

For some reason I just can't get it (that sound) out of my head, and here was the kicker: A week ago a buddy brought over a forty+ year old Harmon Kardon mono reciever for me to offload on e-bay. I plugged it in with it hooked up to one of the speakers, let it warm up, found a station and THERE was That Sound! I didn't say anything... my buddy looked at me and said "that sounds better than your (other stuff). The sad thing is... I was thinking the exact same thing.

Oh, the question... how many of you chased through SS stuff only to wind up back at tubes (sometimes many) years later.

I ordered up an amp from Paul at 2B audio. I'll let you know how it goes...
rwbadley
rwbadley's avatar
rwbadley OP
105 posts
 
Reubent,
I had considered the Anthem Int 2 and the Plinius 8200. Can you tell me what you thought of those in relation to the ta-30? I had also considered the Unico. We live in an audio desert... there are no upper level/specialty shops here unless I go to Sacramento or San Fran.
reubent
3,587 posts
 
RW,

Unfortunately, they were owned too far apart to give an absolute answer and I have different speakers. All I can say is if they were all the same price as a mod'd Cayin from Bizzy Bee, I would choose the Mod'd Cayin for my taste.

Of course the others both have significantly more power than the Cayin and with my "very easy to drive" speakers, that power is just a waste.

YMMV for your taste and your speakers, but I'm happy with mine. Of course, you can't go wrong as Paul has a 30 day return policy.

I've never heard the Unico.

Enjoy,

TIC
rwbadley's avatar
rwbadley OP
105 posts
 
Thanks, I appreciate your input.
sean
6,229 posts
 
Jamiehughburr: Atma-Sphere gear is NOT "typical" tube gear. To me, these are tube amps with an SS heart. This is not meant to put them down in the least. What i'm trying to say is that these amps are fast and offer wide-bandwidth. Most tube amps are slow and very limited in bandwidth. That's why Atma's sound as good as they do. Obviously, Ralph Karsten knows his stuff : ) Sean
>

PS... If i remember correctly, Ralph is also a fan of Goertz speaker cables. Hmmmm.... I wonder why ??? Must be that great minds think alike : )
holzhauer
200 posts
 
Funny that Sean mentions tube gear with a solid state heart. I auditioned several tube preamps ranging from $2000 to $10,000 in my system. The lesser priced tube amps were clearly editing the music and truncating the bass. By the time I got to the $10,000 preamp, the bass was back and the mids and highs sounded much like my Pass designed solid state preamp. And my solid state preamp was $9,600 less!!!!!!
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