How to pick a tubed integrated without hearing one


I am taking the plunge into tubes. I do not see alot of manufactureres i am familiar with in the classifieds. How do i pick the right one ? I will be driving a small to medium sized bookshelf speaker . Probably a 8ohm model . My room is 11x14 .Should i only stick to names i have seen advertised in mags ? Will all of these have a similar sound/build quality.reliablity ? My budget will be around $1000 (used). Any info on these questions or on something i missed would be appreciated.
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Showing 1 response by meiwan

For $1k used there are not a lot of choices, unless you look at some of the Chinese brands, which tend to have pretty poor resale value.

The only 2 brands I'd consider at your budget is the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum, or the Primaluna Prologue one or two.

Both are well built, reliable and sound good.

As far as tubes go, it really depends on the power you need - 300b and EL34's sound the best, but are low powered - usually under 30wpc. KT88's are also popular at that price point - they are less tubey sounding, but offer more power.

As long as you use a moderately efficient speaker with an 8 ohm nominal impedance, you should be fine with 20-25wpc in a room your size (unless you like to rattle the walls). Subjectively, a 20wpc tube amp will have about the same power as a 50-60wpc solid state amp.