Meadowman,
I ve been down that road before and back to tubes.I found out a little secret about eliminating the headache with tubes.Once it working.DO NOT touch it..dont even clean it.just turn it on when you want to listen to music and off when you stop..dont even do any tube rolling..This method seem to work for me so far..knock on wood.. |
One amp you might consider is the Red Wine Audio Signature 30. Its SLA battery powered and has the sound of a great tube amp without the haze and glare. You can hear so deep into the recording and the highs are sweet and extended. From the mids on down its full bodied but there is no bloat. Everything is tight and articulate. Plus, you're off the grid so there's no power cords or conditioners to fret with: just clean, clear power. If 30 watts aren't enough, Vinnie is coming out with 70 watt mono blocks based on the same technology. I have mine with the Hornshoppe Horns and couldn't be happier. |
Much to my disbelief I have no tubes in my system. I kind of evolve into this, first with the solid state H-Cat P12 line stage, but then I moved to the Esoteric X-01 Limited sacd player, and finally the LSA/Exemplar Statement amp. This is all providing extraordinarily good sound reproduction, so I would have to say ss has gotten much better. I have never been committed to tubes after returning to them over 30 years ago. I still remember the ARC banner saying, "That for the audiophile the era of tubes has come." Times change once again. |
It is not sacrelige going to solid state. In fact it has certain advantages just as tubes do.
Buy and use what sounds good to you, not what some salesman or forum post recommends. |
10-28-06: Tbg
Much to my disbelief I have no tubes in my system. I kind of evolve into this, first with the solid state H-Cat P12 line stage, but then I moved to the Esoteric X-01 Limited sacd player, and finally the LSA/Exemplar Statement amp. Tbg, doesn't the LSA/Exemplar Statement amplifier have a 6DJ8/6922 tubed preamp section? 09-20-06: Lrsky
These are stock units, that being the Reference, all QC'd by our Seattle facility, John's facility, then an upgrade to the preamp section only, the Signature Edition, with the final upgrade being to STATEMENT Version, which is a full exchange of parts in all areas, replacing inexpensive op amps, utilizing Active Tube Loads, stabilizing the tubes into the 4/6 MHZ region, generally unheard of. |
