Who makes the highest quality tube amps?

Since no one else has, I'll nominate any amp designed and hand-made by Roger Modjeski at Music Reference. Not that his RM-9, RM-10, RM-200, and his new low-power single-ended and OTL amps are THE best (IS there such a thing?), but they are well designed and built, last a long time with no cases of bursting into flames as some even much more highly priced tube amps have, and sound great. Ask anyone who has one!

I've had two pairs of VTL monos. Deluxe 300s and my new Compact 100s. I really like both of them. No lack of power and pair well with a CJ PV10a. Getting nice instrument separation and detail out of my old pair of AR90s.

@clearthink

"ozzy"The newest Carver amps are really quite special."

Does that mean that your's haven't caught on fire yet? "

Clearthink, you're not thinking clearly.  If you're referring to 40+ year old SS Phaselinear amps that people over drove and claimed they "caught on fire" and extrapolating that to his modern tube amps, then your logic defies logic.  The new Carver tube amps are the the most reliable tube amp I've ever owned.  Quiet as SS amp, no tube hiss, no output tube failure in 7 years of use, no bias drifting, and bass extension and power of some of the best SS amps I know with all the good qualities tubes are known for.

clearthink,

No, but they’re "smokin' hot"!

ozzy

Lets go with highest quality being equated to longevity.

Any Dyna made in the old days will need refurbishment to sound right and be reliable; otherwise the power transformer is at risk. Dynaco went out of business in 1978; I bought one of their last kits and assembled it for a friend who still has it. Its had its filter caps replaced a couple of times since then.

Or are you not talking about reliability?

Lets go with highest quality being equated to longevity.  Without any way of providing proof, I have to think that the Dynaco ST-70's have the most longest lived tube amps still in circulation.  I still think they sound passable.

How the "F" do you measure "highest quality"? By the quality of the parts? By the quality of the assembly? Performance? Durability? How about versatility with different types of loudspeakers? How about the longevity of the manufacturer and customer service? These all make sense, but then what about these qualities relative to price? Or is price not a factor? What if I asked you "who makes the highest quality sedans?" Or, "who makes the highest quality watches?". I truly hate to be negative, but your question is simply stupid. You might as well ask "who makes the best sounding tube amps that are also durable"? And guess what? Even with that more narrow question, all you would get here is a list of names of what people on this Board own. 'Cause that's the way this Board works. Now I don't mean to be a complete ass, so I would express the opinion that for most tube amps, the quality of the transformers is incredibly important but so is everything else. Point to point wiring is nice too, but not always practical. You got some very good names. You can't go wrong with Manley, VTL, Atma-Sphere, Coincident, C-J, Quicksilver, and for the most part (smiley-they have had a dud or two), ARC. The big names got to be big names for a reason. You have to live with your choice so rather than take a poll of worthless opinions, take a look at the aesthetics and listen. I happen to think that more-so than with SS, tube amps often have distinctive appearances. I don't care how good they sound, I don't care for the looks of Quicksilver (those hose clamps holding down large capacitors just make me itch) or Coincident. A tube amp sticks out like a sore thumb (perhaps a poor choice of words) in any listening room, so pick out one that not only floats your aural boat, but that you also don't mind looking at. That's just my opinion. When Pathos first came out with their amps and when Manley first came out with the Stingray, I was smitten, but I am glad I never bought either. Sound has to come first. I am not saying they sound bad, but I believe there are better sounding tube amps out there that those two. 

ozzy"The newest Carver amps are really quite special."

Does that mean that your's haven't caught on fire yet?

I currently own the Bob Carver Raven 350 amps. They replaced a Atma-Sphere M-60 Mk3.3 and before that Pass Labs X350 amps.

The newest Carver amps are really quite special. They are all made by hand, hard wired and made one at a time per order.

ozzy

All tube OTL amplifiers use SEPP, cyclotron or Mr. Futterman’s variations. All these are push-pull amplification stages. They can claim single ended, but they are push pull topologies. Feedback is mandatory in this designs to cancel out the artifacts generated by the problems of not true complimentary driving of the signal, and of course cross-over distortion. Some clever variations have been presented on the market during recent years, but they are nevertheless push pull topologies with many dbs of negative feedback, some of them use up to 60db of degenerative feedback. Of course, these amplifiers are not Class A devices.

@believehifi Just so you know, the statements in the post above are mostly false. Here's why:
There are in fact single-ended OTLs (which don't make much power) and they are **not** push pull. Here's one:https://www.transcendentsound.com/mini-beast.html

We don't use feedback in most of our amps (MA-1, MA-2 and MA-3) and those that do use it run only 2-4 db. Even then we have customers that have us add a switch so they can switch it out which is no problem. We rely on other methods to minimize distortion; this is in order to keep higher ordered harmonics at bay because the ear is so sensitive to higher ordered harmonics.

I can't speak for others, but in our case we have a completely symmetrical design and don't have the need for complementary output devices. We do that through the use of the Circlotron, and were the first manufacturer to use that circuit after EV discontinued its use in the 1950s. For several decades we were the *only* manufacturer using it.

60 db of 'degenerative feedback' sounds impossible to me (I suspect you are referring to loop feedback??). Can you provide a link? And finally, we can and do build our amps to be class A (A2, to be specific). The class of operation is somewhat load specific; a higher load impedance is needed on the smaller amps to remain in the class A region. We don't have crossover distortion problems since we don't employ an output transformer and we paid special attention to making sure that every part of the amp (voltage amplifier, driver and output section; there is no dedicated phase splitter) have operating points that simply prevent any sort of crossover issue. As a result, distortion linearly decreases to unmeasurable as the power level is decreased. Usually the only kind of amp that can do that is single-ended.

I own Dyna. I go with Dyna. So did old man Johnson of ARC, who copied Dyna. (RIP) And others.

Bill Johnson modified Dynaco amps (the ST-70 that ARC had on display in their museum was recently sold) but he didn't copy them (the ARC ST-70 used a driver circuit that had a lot of balanced circuits in it).  He did also use the Dynaco output transformer in the D-50, D-51, D-75 and a few others, which adds to the confusion.

The new Linear Tube Audio "Ultralinear" might be David Bernings best yet. All of the attributes of a tube amp without the transformer noise and bass slam like the best SS out there.

I would imagine Allnic must be up there. Especially with the DHT lineup.
Also their top of the line push pull amp can switch between 200 watts of pentode and 90 watts of "set-like" triode. Currently the amp I have my eyes on.

I own Dyna. I go with Dyna. So did old man Johnson of ARC, who copied Dyna. (RIP) And others.

atma-sphere

+1 for Aries Cerat.This is what i would purchase for myself if i go the tube route.

I love deHavilland Hi Fi. Very very simple design takes full advantage of the tubes, and the tubes are selected to sound so so musical. 

If there's something built better than a Dennis Had Inspire amp, I'd be surprised. Hand built little gems at a fraction of the cost of Shindos or just about anything else of this quality...mine sounds astonishingly good, and recent ones (available only on Ebay) list for around 1500 bucks.

BAT - Balanced Audio Technology.

Manley Labs and conrad johnson.

All tube OTL amplifiers use SEPP, cyclotron or Mr. Futterman’s variations. All these are push-pull amplification stages. They can claim single ended, but they are push pull topologies. Feedback is mandatory in this designs to cancel out the artifacts generated by the problems of not true complimentary driving of the signal, and of course cross-over distortion. Some clever variations have been presented on the market during recent years, but they are nevertheless push pull topologies with many dbs of negative feedback, some of them use up to 60db of degenerative feedback. Of course, these amplifiers are not Class A devices.

Collatio - First True Class A SE OTL Amplifier

This is most certainly false. Single ended OTLs have been around for decades and by definition are class A.

nobody mentioned mastersound, unison research, viva

Aries Cerat is the new innovator in tube design with brand new technology introduced to tube amplification never been done before across the entire lineup

Impera II Preamp - Inverted Triode technology
Pondera Preamp - Negative Output Impedance Energey(Power) Supply (NOIES)
Diana Forte - Highest Powered Stereo SET amp in the world
Ianus - Brand new TriodeFET Hybrid design
Collatio - First True Class A SE OTL Amplifier
Etc

http://aries-cerat.eu/
 

Mapman, you just described my Emotive Audio Vita amps. Tiger maple bases and a retro-looking meter for adjusting each tube's bias. See the photo on my system page.

Another tube amp feature that is of interest to me is tube biasing. I am interested in doing this as simply but effectively as possible. Maybe a meter is part of the solution. Which amps fit the ease of biasing requirement best?

Thanks.

I LOVE meters...I often keep my Squeezebox Touch in its "meter mode" because it looks so cool. I think all amps should have glowing little needle meters...Pass does it...Cary, McIntosh, D'Agostino...I was looking at 2 new Rogers amps in a shop the other day...they look like 1956 Buicks...great stuff.

Thanks for all the responses.

One thing I gotta ask is how much does looks/appearance factor into your tube gear buying decision?

Gotta admit that I love the distinctive industrial/laboratory/retro look of a lot of tube gear so the appearance is something that I think matters for me as much as all the rest. Meters that serve a useful purpose are also a plus for me in terms of aesthetics.

I have great results with the Bob Carver 180's. They are outstanding performers.

I use a tube power amp because it has a characteristic that most well regarded solid state amps claim to have: It's "tube like."

Auntjenof2,

Thanks for your detailed reply. I am going to take a serious look at the 45 & 300b amps.

AUDIO NOTE!

Bobheinatz, I went the el-34 because it had more bass slam and dynamics then my previous 300b amp while maintaining all the SET magic. I switch between NOS Amperex and Mullard xf-1s which helps. I had their 300b version in my system for a few weeks and it is also outstanding. They share the same class A3 circuit. I don't think you could say one was better than the other, just different flavors due to the tubes. I was worried I would start buying $2000 Takatsuki tubes and coming from 300b wanted to try something different. I have also had the pleasure to hear the 45 in Jack's
home system. Quite an awesome little amp just not enough power (1.5 watts) for my speakers. Let me add that Jack and his partner Tony are an absolute joy to deal with. Jack is so humble, without perusing an old online interview I would not have known he worked on the NASA Gemini project,
was a recording studio engineer, holds multiple amp circuit patents, and hand winds the finest transformers. It is guys like Jack, Ralph of Atmasphere etc. that make this crazy hobby great.

Joule is another name to consider.

These are two Lamm amplifiers for consideration.

MONAURAL POWER AMPLIFIER

Pure Class A hybrid amplifier producing 110 Watts into 8 AND 4 Ohms, 400 Watts into 2 Ohms, 600 Watts into 1 Ohm (continuous). Features hybrid vacuum tube/sold-state design with one specially selected 6922 vacuum triode. 12 high speed MOS-FET output transistors, no overall feedback. Switch-selectable bias/voltage settings for 8- or 4-Ohm operation. XLR and RCA inputs; 2 pairs of binding posts. Remote control: power on/off.

While this amplifier doesn't "technically" meet the all tube amplifier thing, I'm sure it not only meets it "sonic wise", but exceeds it. Tube amplifiers have every thing except the "bass slam" of well known SS amps. I've noticed this when I paired one of the best tube preamps with a very transparent SS amp.

While we all agree 100% in regard to the sonics of all tubes, they lack that little tiny bit of "bass slam". I believe Lamm's design with the best parts available will give me all the sonics I desire from tubes, as well as the bass slam of SS.

My desire is not to just have a tube amp, but to get the liquid sonics plus the "bass slam" of Krell, which is not on my list of preferred amps, but it's got that "bass slam".

MONAURAL POWER AMPLIFIER

Single-ended tube amplifier producing 18 Watts continuous into 16/8/4 Ohms. Pure class A operation. Regulated power supply. High current low impedance output triodes (6C33C) in the output stage and in the voltage regulator section. XLR (pseudo-balanced) and RCA input connectors. Multi-turn trimming potentiometers for setting the nominal value of plate voltage and plate current of the output tube.

The input stage has been totally redesigned and is based on the topology developed for the ML3 Signature amplifier. The result is a perfect fusion between the ML2.1 and ML3 Signature.

Now this low power amp meets the all tube thing if you got the right speakers. I believe either amp could work depending on the size of the listening room; that would determine absolute power requirements.

auntjenof2,

Which Electra Fidelity amp do you own? I was looking at the 45 or 300b? Have you been able to listen to all 3 amps?
Does the el-34 have SET magic?

Audio Valve should be included on this list as well.

Finsup,

No tube amp for the OHMs.

Electra Fidelity. Hard wired, Huge custom hand wound transformers, Jack Elliano's proprietary circuits. Mine replaced Coincident Frankensteins. No contest. He makes a single ended 45, 300b, and el-34. Also makes push pull amps if you need more power. Give em a try, it might get you off the merry go round.

Emotive Audio Design needs to be on the list.

Are the tube amps meant to drive your Ohms?

"Is budget a factor?

Eventually but not at this point.

Is budget a factor?

Jdec,

Class D amps aren't going anywhere.

I've dabbled with adding an additional system built around
high efficiency speakers and a tube amp for awhile and hope
to do that someday.

My Triangle Titus speakers are tube friendly. I could use
them in my current second a/v system with a tube amp. I use
a mhdt Paradisea tube DAC and Tube Audio Design Hibachi 125
monoblocks there currently with an old NAD 7020 run as the
pre-amp.

Lol wolf.

Some good suggestions, including Tron, just great amps and good support from Graham who makes them. For amps I have used myself and it's a few, I would say Ayon, for sound, build quality and reliability

My Jolida was playing some small Jazz combo music one day and I ran into the room thinking a live band had broken into my house. Turns out, they had, so I had them arrested and taken away.

I have a VTL Stereo 90 Deluxe Ultra-Linear tube amp that I mate with a Harman Kardon Citation 1 with Focal Diva Utopia Be Speakers. Simply Stunning!!!I find the VTL more holographic, more musical, more transparent, more harmonically textured, a more magical level of refinement and tonally richer than ARC and in addition, VTL exhibits greater Pace, Rhythm, Attack, and Timing (PRAT) which allows me to experience a greater emotional connection to the musical presentation. I am using New Sensor Corp. Genalex KT88 power tubes with (2) NOS Siemens 801S's in the input position and (2) NOS GE's in the phase inverter position.

BTW, I'm taking a Poll on two very influential jazz recording engineers. Please visit my website and vote for your favorite jazz engineer: Rudy Van Gelder or Roy DuNann.

Michael Miguest
http://www.audiocognoscenti.com/blog.html

Chalice Audio with their 'Grail' SET monoblocks...

Phaelon if the tubes tend to go up fast, that's a - in my book. I'd tend to agree that tube life is a key factor for reliability.