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To tube, or not to tube, that is the question

Falling head first into the hi-fi stratosphere. Read some of your posts that you should start with your speakers first then select the appropriate amp. So, I'm picking up my "new to me" Totems Sttaffs (spelled correctly don't you know) tomorrow and I am anticipating that my good old 30 year old Pioneer SA 6800 amp just ain't going to cut it any more. I should get a new amp.

I have an opportunity to purchase an Audiolab 8000S integrated amp to power the Sttafs. I really don't know if the Audiolab is the amp for these speakers but the price is right. I'm also thinking that all this chat about tubes should mean that it might be worth a try, The 8000S can act as a power amp if I hook it up to a tubed pre-amp later when I get more bucks. Or maybe I should forgo the ss integrated amp entirely and jump both feet into the tube world with either a tube integrated or a hybid. Keep in mind, I have quite an eclectic taste in music, mostly centering around electronic jazz and instrumental classical pieces, guitar acoustical renditions, vocal centered ballad material and the occassional heavy metal head banging rants. And I do have a limited budget. No Pathos amps for me. I'd be REALLY glad if I could pull this off under $500 (Do I hear the word "China"?). Would I be throwing good money to bad starting my tube journey with the 8000S? Can any amp fill this void?

I don't want to hear "Why did you get the Sttafs?" because I just did. I really liked them in the shop and I think they will be great in my home. I would like to know if reasonably priced tube amps can work with the Sttafs and if not, well, what do you suggest?

Thanks ahead for any input.
djh
shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,333 posts
 
Isn't the sttaf one of the warmer sounding speakers in the Totem line up...if it is then try it first with what you have at home and see how you get along with it.

If after some listening in your room you find it is sounds to thin (especially in the bass) and you would prefer something more lush sounding then, only at that point, would I consider tubes. The advantage with AudiogoN is that you could try it (used) and then resell if you found it was not an imprvement for your setup.

Most Tubes in your price range tend to add warmth and coloration primarily due to the output transformer coupling with the speaker impedance (forms a kind of filter or tone control) => this is excellent and often produces a highly desirable effect => you need to want or like this nice sound and there can be too much of a good thing so it will depend on the speaker and your tastes too. Furthermore, in your price range you will surely be lacking in power or oomph in a tube amp with this speaker.

The exception would be OTL Tube design of course (no transformer) => these will add no coloration at all and will be highly accurate (and very low distortion) but I doubt this would be anywhere close to your price range simply because of the amount of materials (parallel tubes) involved, which greatly adds to the cost.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Another voice to agree with the first three posts, especially Atmasphere’s. I have heard smaller Totem floorstanders sounding very good but they were in a small room and driven by SimAudio solid-state gear which delivered considerable current.

You didn’t do so badly. You chose a speaker just because you liked it—nothing wrong with that. If you are set on tubes, maybe you should just go for the highest-power tube amp you can afford and live with it for a while. Depending on the size of your room, you may not be able to fill it with sound. In that case you can listen in the near field, with your chair placed at one point of an equilateral triangle whose other two points are the speakers.

If you get to wondering later what an amp upgrade would do for the Totems, I can say that I’ve heard them do very well with Conrad-Johnson tube gear.

BTW, you mention you have read a posts suggesting that one start with speakers and then find an amp for them. My own approach would be different: ideally, I would choose the very best possible source, then listen to it on a boombox or headphones while I saved for the best-value tube amp I could afford. Then I would choose speakers for that amp, since there are a lot of choices around in speakers.

Different strokes, FWIW... and anyway, things don’t always work out the way you plan. You could chance on a pair of speakers you loved and have to build backwards :o) . That can work just as well.
pawlowski6132's avatar
pawlowski6132
572 posts
 
Why did you get the Sttaffs??
bdgregory
1,580 posts
 
First - no need to defend choosing the Sttafs. They're fantastic. I had Sttafs for ~ 2 years, and when upgraded to Mani-2s I still hated to part with the Staffs. Only after watching them collect dust did I sell them. Choosing speakers first then power is IMHO best.

You didn't mention your room size, and this may be important in considering the amp. The Sttafs will do better in a smaller room, and if your room isn't cavernous I think a ~30 wpc amp will do nicely. I normally powered mine with a SS amps, and experimented with many rated from 80 w/c to 200, but when I upgraded, I had them connected for a while to a vintage Fisher integrated rated at 30 w/c and was amazed how well the combo worked, and sounded. This was in a room that's 16x16 with low ceilings. It was plenty loud, but this is a relative statement. If you heard the Sttafs before your purchase, you must have been satisfied with the volume, but even with 250 w/c they DO NOT play loud in the sense hard rock fans define it. Aside from this I found them easy to drive - they liked any amp I connected them to.

If your room is modest size, you should do fine with the ~32 w/c amps recommended above, but if larger you may want to go with something a little more powerful (~70+ w/c).
ghanson
53 posts
 
Djh, my advice would be to try the Pioneer and if you are to make a change after that you should make the electronics (amp etc.) that were paired with the dealer's Staffs your first stop. I think it is a mistake to think that we can adquately judge speakers in isolation and the sound you heard was in large part also due to the amplifier. If the amp being used was too costly then see if that brand has a cheaper alternative that will have a similar sound and enough power to drive them in your room. Furthermore, I would proceed very cautiously into tube amplification on a budget of $500. You will need power (WPC) and you will need to hear several to get your bearings on what they offer you sonically.
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