2. amps-preamps
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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
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
A very different perspective. I run two all tube systems and would suggest that you table the idea. IMHO, there is not that much to gain and a lot of down side.

If you are a hands on type and would enjoy tube rolling, playing with bias and waiting for your gear to warm up, it might be for you. If you want to listen to music....maybe not so much.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
>Viridian: I'm kinda a hands on guy, & don't have a problem tube rolling, or playing with bias, but I don't want to do it ALL the time. When I get in the mood to experiment, then I can experiment and play around, but if I want to just listen, then that's all I want to do at that time. But like I said before, I don't to have to worry about things blowing up b/c a tube blew.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
IMHO, solid state amps are more likely to have catastrophic failure than tube amps.

That said, I would still skip the tubes. But it's fun to try, and most of us wander down the path, sooner or later. Enjoy the trip.
wolf_garcia
4,650 posts
 
I use a new model Jolida 502p with factory upgrades that is one of the biggest "bangs for the buck" in tubedom, at about half the cost of any comparable high quality power amp. The XLR balanced inputs were important to me also as I have a balanced preamp, and simply like XLRs. The amp has bias adjustment pots on the top of the amp so they're accessable and really easy to use (LED indicators that work very accurately) although you only need to check them every few months at most. The output is selectable at 4 or 8 ohms and this thing has plenty of power at 60 to 85 glorious tube watts per side and I can run KT120s no problemo. It sounds beautiful and effortless, with a modern full range tube sound.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
Jolida, hmm? I'll check it out. thanks
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