2. amps-preamps
  3. 159891-2029

Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice

Hi All, 

I have never owned a tube amplifier before and am planning to purchase one with a minimum of 50 watts per channel to mate with 8 ohm 88 dbl speakers.

My hope is experienced audiogoners will share their expertise regarding how to approach this. While I realize listening is the best way to learn about sound and compatibility; I want to learn a better understanding about brands with less maintenance and longer tube life, how to decide between mono or stereo,can a newbie play with bias or is auto biasing a better first choice, etc.

I would also appreciate what to look for in selecting a used tube amp to identify one that might be in need of repair. For example, with solid state depending on the brand, capacitor replacement can be more of a concern. Any advice on what to look out for or ask about with used tube amps would be appreciated.

A big question I have is how to understand the relationship between power tubes like E34's, 120.s, etc. and, I guess the driver? tubes like 12au7's and 12at7's. That  is to ask which is more critical to the overall sound of the amp? FWIW, I routinely tube roll with my preamps.  

I 've read through a number of threads but maybe someone can point me to good ones I may have missed. 

Thanks for listening,

Dsper
dsper
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,393 posts
 
@audition__audio 
I'm so sorry to snap at you as I did, your comments are completely justified. I too have reacted to the ridiculous and incorrect statements put forth by that member.
And Ralph's contribution to this forum have been invaluable, so much so, I own one of his masterpieces.

dsper OP
657 posts
 
The same is true of Audio Note, another brand I like, but, most of their stuff is quite pricey.

Audio Note and Esoteric are out of my league pricewise; and I question if one needs to spend that much...but maybe that shows my ignorance 
dsper OP
657 posts
 
Now 'peak power supply' as you put it might be a current rating that has to do with what happens when you short out the power supply, and might be stated in amps. This is really a statement of how much energy is stored in the supply (and how big the spark will be when you short it out) rather than anything to do with how much power the amp makes.
To be perfectly clear, energy stored in the supply is how an amp can handle an orchestral crescendo that would cause it to exceed its continuous power rating, correct?


dsper OP
657 posts
 
Since this is a conversation about having enough power, what about going for a larger tube amp  like 100 wpc.

This assumes that the 60 wpc amp builder can build an equal quality 100 wpc amp.

While it might be waste of money, I would never have to worry, correct?




larryi
3,718 posts
 
There are trade-offs, aside from cost, with going for more power.  With some brands of amps, the cheaper, lower-powered version sounds better when playing at modest volume level than the higher cost, higher priced brethren.  This can be the case with solid state too.  I tend to find higher powered tube amps to sound a little bit brittle and hard (harsh?) sounding.  But, it is still far better to get an amp compatible with your power requirements and accept the less significant trade-offs.

You need to hear these things for yourself.  It is hard to say what you will like and dislike and how you would value the particular attributes of any given amp type, never mind particular model.  If you can, listen to a modestly powered EL34 or EL84 amp (a popular tube in lower cost amps that sounds very good), a higher powered amp using KT 88 or KT120 or KT150 tubes, and an output transformerless amp, like the Atmasphere S-30 or M 60 amps.  Of the more common tube types, I am a big fan of the 6L6 tube, but, those put out less power than the other tube types I've mentioned.
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