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Moving away from tubes. Is this a good idea?

I need a new amp for my Totem Sttafs and REALLY considered tubes. My final thought is that if you don't have a certain pile of money you are only kissing your sister. Have you ever seen my sister? Besides there is a Devel's Tower of a learning curve for me to climb around tubes and I'm really anxious to just sit down and listen without any anxiety (if you know what I mean).

I have an opportunity to pick up a JungSon JA 88-D class A integrated amp. Just one piece of electronics to move onto the rack (but what a BIG piece:-)

I have a relatively med/small room (16'x17'x8'). The speakers are rated 8hm, 88dB, and 100 W max. program.

The amp is rated at 80 wpc, class A, RMS 8ohms.

From what I read the JungSon is about as close to a tube sound via ss as I can get without breaking into the kids xmas fund. I just want a rich full room of acoustical/vocal/instrumental music.

Could you give me your opinion if you think the Sttafs will be underpowered or unmatched.

Thanks.
djh
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Good ideas above. The mention of Cayin not autobiasing is a very good catch.

My hunch is that if Djh does not try a tube amp, he will always wonder "what if?".

Therefore, I suggest buying a used PrimaLuna Prologue 2 when one becomes available. Give it a try. If it doesn't work (I'll bet it will...), then sell it and buy one of the solid state amps suggested above.

I suspect Pass Labs will be out of Djh's price range based on his mention of the Jungson as a possibility.
rlawry
414 posts
 
It has been my experience over using tubes for the past 15 years that using small signal tubes (12AX7, 12AU7, 6922, 5751, etc) has been no problem at all. However, I have had problems with output tubes from time to time, and like you, grew tired of all the problems and maintenance. If you think about it, using tubes for what they excel at, voltage amplification, is generally non-problematic, while using them for what they are not good at, current amplification, places the tubes at risk. I love the sound of tubes, so I have a tube preamp that uses tubes for voltage gain. You could also use them in the output stage of CD players and in the voltage gain stages of power amps, and still get some of that tube magic without the inherent reliability problems with tubes.
aball
1,994 posts
 
The Cayin 88T is NOT autobiasing. The Cayin 70T IS autobiasing. They are different models so don't confuse them.

Arthur
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
Djh, FWIW the transistor amp you are mentioning at the beginning of this thread has marginal power for dealing with a low-efficiency speaker like you have.

A lot has to do with your listening habits in this regard, but if you like to rock out or you like Wagner at realistic levels, you simply will have to come to grips with the understanding that to do so you will need a more efficient speaker, tube or transistor notwithstanding.

From what I have seen, finding a speaker that is easier to drive will be a piece of cake. Here are a couple off the top of my head- the Audiokinesis Stormbringer and the ZU Druid. Neither are very expensive and both are easier to drive than what you have, and both will do nicely with a lower-powered amp (i.e. 60 watts or so), allowing you to consider tubes on a budget again. I doubt either one will be a step backwards either, I've heard them both and they can be very convincing!
jeffb28451
128 posts
 
I'm currently using Wavelength Custom 45 and Triton Sig 300b. Fabulous amps. I've had Levinson, Tekne, Pass, PS, ARC, BelCanto digitals, etc.

The Jungson was one of the best, most useable pieces I've ever had. Well made, very even tempered with various speaker loads and types,super reliable.

I liked my sfirst one so much that when I got rid of it, I replaced it with another one! For under a K used, it's a steal.
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