2. amps-preamps
  3. 1150219942

how would an entry-level tube system compare?

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice on the following situation as I move into the tube world for the first time.

My current non-audiophile, lo-fi system: an old Sony 100W receiver and JBL S36 monitor speakers. 75% of the music I listen to is driving and bass-heavy (techno, house, electronica, hip-hop, rock). On this system, the sound is OK, but I can crank it (I mean _really_ crank it), which I like to do, and the bass is there, which I need.

I'm now planning a move into the hi-fi world. Although my musical tastes would suggest solid-state and big watts, I'm very curious about tubes. For budget and space reasons, I'm looking at integrated tube amps in the <$1500 range (from Cary, Onix, Cayin, Rogue, Eastern Electric, Shanling, VTL, PrimaLuna, and others).

I'm sure any of these tubes systems will take the quality of sound of my music to a new level. My concern is whether they'll be able to match the power, drive, and volume, of my current lo-fi system. Can a <50W tube system shake the house?

As for speakers, I'm still evaluating, but had not necessarily committed to high sensitivity ones. Should that be a requirement?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.
defiantscientist

Showing 1 response by raquel

raquel
841 posts
 
Tube amps need high quality output transformers to have a chance of sounding right on low impedences speakers, and the sad fact is that good output transformers are very expensive.

Tube preamps and solid-state preamps tend to cost roughly the same for a given quality level, but because of the cost of output transformers in tube amps, not so with tube and solid-state amps (this would thus hold true for integrated amps).

In short, my experience and my advice is that if your speakers dip below 4 Ohms (most do these days), you are best off pairing a decent solid-state amp with a tube preamp. A lot of people buy them, but a tube amp on the cheap is just that.
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