AudiogoN Forums: Which Tube Amp?

Which Tube Amp?

Ok all you tube-O-philes, I have a question!

I am thinking of getting back to a tube amp(s), maybe.
(I used to have a C.J. MV50 many years ago.)

What is the best tube amp, or monoblock tube amps, for me?
Please note that I know that I am NOT a tweaker, so the qualifications for the tube amp I want are:

Easy to no tube biasing. (Either so easy a monkey can do it, without special tools or meters, or automatic biasing.)

At least 100W/ch, and preferrably up to 200W/ch. (I need the power to drive my Revel Studio Speakers.)

While I want that nice tube sound, I don't want too much.
(I.e I don't really want that classic C.J. "tubey" sound.)

Price: Well, give me a ballpark figure for what you suggest (Used Price). I figure I can go up to $4-5,000.

Reliability: I like my ARC LS-2 preamp as it is rock solid, as is my current SS amp, a Mark Levinson No. 23.
Therefore, I want something with good build quality.

Tube Availability: I want a tube amp that can go with cheaper tubes and still sound good. (I don't want something that I have to spend thousands of dollars on everytime I retube it.)

Preferably with cages, as I have a 3 year old daughter, who while being very good about not touching my system (so far at least), she does have friends over, who would probably love to touch the "pretty glowing lights", (and whose father would then sue me (and thus take my amps!) for allowing his daughter to get third degree burns on my equipment!)

Please list all that you are familiar with, and would recommend. If you disagree with someone else's recommendation, please state that as well, (especially if you have personel experience with the offending amp!)

Some that I have considered, but tossed out include:

Any ARC tube amp, as they are all bloody espensive to retube!

The Kora Cosmos. Nice sounding, but way to much trouble to bias.

Any older C.J. amps, as they sound too tubey. (I will admit that I have not heard the latest C.J. amps, so maybe they sound different.)

Antique Sound labs "Hurricanes": (This is a maybe, because of the reliablity issues I have heard about.)

Thanks in advance for your input!

Kurt_tank (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

12-29-03

Responses (1-25 of 25)

Click title to read one, or click date to read all below it.

12-30-03 Bat and wolcott both have auto bias and are good products. ... Albertporter

12-30-03 Sonic frontiers power 2's or 3s. works well with current pro ... Newbee

12-30-03 Aronov audio ls-9100 monoblock amps are rock solid, extremel ... Listener57

12-30-03 Check out the vac line of products. Bozo

12-30-03 The mcintosh 2102. easy maintenance - great looks - fantasti ... Ljgj

12-30-03 The new conrad johnson premier 140 would be a great choice. ... Bigpowerballs

12-30-03 Try something from vtl. the st-150 will wipe the floor with ... Meadowman

12-30-03 Have you heard the new levinson equipment. i would go there ... Loontoon

12-30-03 I have vtl mb-450s. they have all of the power you will nee ... Brooksl

12-30-03 I had similiar requirements and am awaiting the return of my ... Mknowles16

12-30-03 I strongly second ljgi on the mcintosh 2102. i spotted some ... Unclejeff

12-30-03 Hi kurt, like michael above, i had a counterpoint sa100 com ... Phild

12-30-03 The new cj's are way better than the 50 you owned, try a 60 ... Troutfishing

12-30-03 I just replaced my levinson 27 with rogue m-150's. they sho ... Jsl23

12-30-03 The audio valve challengers are wonderful. they auto-bias Ehoehn

12-30-03 You should not toss out the arc amps so quickly. my vt-100 m ... Sc53

12-30-03 The 'connoisseurs of coloration' notwithstanding, if you wan ... Privateparty

12-30-03 Get the vtl 450 signatures and learn to use the screwdriver ... Mejames

12-30-03 I would suggest a set of bat vk 60 monoblocks. you can orde ... Ejlif

12-30-03 Has about 100 watts; easily replaceable tubes made currently ... Msa

12-30-03 Another vote for vtl mb-450 has cage, and rebias every six m ... Goone

12-30-03 Blue circle bc28. 120 watts per side, 2 6922 tubes (even goo ... Fcreetlew

12-30-03 If you are going to consider a hybrid, consider the llano tr ... Swampwalker

12-31-03: Kurt_tank
Thanks to all of you who responded to my thread!!!

Unfortunately, my wife has thrown me a curve, and has knocked my budget down to $0. (Of course, I can always sell something to get the money, so I figure my budget is now around $2K, which is what I figure I can get for my Levinson No. 23.)

Using this figure, I have calculated that most of your great suggestions won't work. In addition, she wants the amp to be inside the stereo rack, so monoblocks are out, at least for now (So that eliminates the BAT, Wolcott and VTL suggestions). The MacIntosh does not really fit my decor. My brother and I have owned Counterpoint before, and to be honest, the build quality was lacking somewhat. (Both he and I had to have repairs done to our units. But they did sound good, I will admit that!) Therefore, I have settled on the Music Reference RM-200. (While it needs biasing, it only has a few tubes, so it should be faily easy to do, and the tubes seem to be cheap enough.) If any of you have any thoughts on this choice, please let me know what you think.

By the way, I am not disappointed with the Levinson amp, I merely want something different, especially after my friend upgraded to tube amps from his Classe amp. It really sounded good. He bought the BAT 150 monobolocks after having the Kora Cosmos.
Kurt_tank (Threads | Answers | This Thread)

01-31-05 Swampwalker, what year is your llano trinity? is it in exc ... Ljajr