Entry level tube amps?
I don't know what your power requirements are, but within your budget, these should give you a taste of what you're looking for. http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1248963171&/Cary-Audio-Aes-Six-Pack-silver Usual disclaimers, no affiliation to the seller. Yada, yada, yada.... |
This may sound a bit strange but I advise waiting a few months, actually until October or so. Why? Because of the heat issue. About three weeks ago I traded an amp for a Jolida JD-202A with a local Audiogon member. Thought I'd give tubes a try. Hooked it up, turned it on and let it warm up. Sound was very nice. Not up to par with my ss system but the cost difference isn't small. After an hour of listening I left the room for 30 minutes. When I returned I was hit by the heat in the room. Bottom line, I sold the amp today. If I had tried this in the fall or winter I probably would have kept the amp around for a more rigorous evaluation. If you do go with the tubes be prepared to crank up the AC. |
-Cayin TA-30 (Bizzybee upgrades.. biasing pots on the side, vs underneath) $600-700 Prima Luna Prologe II $900-1100. Auto-biasing, soft start circuit. Basically plug and play, no hassle. Some believe that both are basically the same amps. Kevin Deal who imports the PrimaLuna line claims better internals. I don't know. I have the PLII. I like mine quite a bit. The Cayin (takes awhile to find one) has a pre-out to separate the preamp and amp, going for it. I bought this model for the same reason you are. Easy to tube roll. Both uses almost all power tubes. KT88, 6550, EL34s. If you're coming from solid state, from what I've read, the Russian Gold Lion "re-issues" KT88s are supposed to be very very good. I have a set, haven't plugged them in yet (waiting to get my room in order). Currently have Electo Harmonix (EH) 6550s in and stock preamp tubes, quite like it. I got my tubes from Jim McShane (google him, very well regarded), and Kevin Deal at upscale audio is suppose to be very good as well. Also, look into the Monarchy M24 all tube DAC and linestage (2 separate power supplies). It has a 3K output impedance though, but you could use it as a "tube" preamp to go with your existing power amp (no worry about driving speakers). To get your toes wet. I went this way for a while, but decided to go full tube integrated. From 9 feet away, I dont' find tubes that hot. IME, a non-issue. Just go for it. |
