What a difference an amp makes

[Scumurculum]

Until about 18 months ago my Aeon Is were powered by a Thule PA350b amp.

This gave a lovely warm and detailed sound. Unfortunately, it gave up the ghost and was non fixable. Especially as at the time there was no longer any product support for that brand in Australia (the company has actually since gone broke)

Anyway the only thing I could afford to replace it was a Krell 300i. Certainly a very detailed dynamic sound (and with the right speakers fantastic) but it lacked that warmth I liked. Even with a valve preamp (Primaluna Prologue 3) it felt like cymbals and snare drums were placed about 20 feet in front of any other instrument. No cable matching or speaker placement seemed to completely mitigate that.

As a result, I did notice that I listened to less music over the last year or so.

Anyway, to my great luck I came across someone who has the same amp (well the Thule pa250b - close enough) which had been gathering dust for the last few year.

I managed to buy it for a song.

All I can say that magic is back, and I am soo pleased. (so I hope it lasts)

So to those people who say that all amps sound the same: pfttht!!!!

 

[hotroady]

I believe it ! I have a number of vintage tube amps, and they perform differently. You could also roll tubes on your pre, for a change in sound.

 

[timm]

way cool - congrats... From my experience - amps make a bigger diff than pre-amps.... I would like to hear others comment on that one...

Seems like it has been difficult for me to A/B pre-amps in the past - but have heard marked diffs between amps. I have compared very expensive cd players (Wadia for 10K) and a modded APL Denon (digital mods only) to my denon 5900 (1800 bucks) - and the diff was there but slight in both cases.
Played the WAdia with my pre and without it (hooked it up direct)....again, a very slight diff.... All of these audible - but very close - and it would have been challenging to tell the diff if not a direct A/B....

 

[Steelhead]

Happy for you that the magic is back.

I have a tube preamp from Mick Maloney from Australia, Supratek Chenin. Love it.

As for power, gotta have tubes. The difference between my old Hafler and the CJ 12 on the panels almost fits the "night and day" type comparison. I can't live without tubes.

 

[User211]

Valve addiction. Once bitten, forever smitten.

 

[Scumurculum]

I too am smitten by the sound of valves (tubes), in fact at the time i was trying to find a replacement for the thule I did audition the Mcintosh MC275 and found the sound wonderful at low and medium sound levels

Unfortunately at the sound volumes I sometime enjoy, it did not quite have the juice to power my hungry Aeon is (at least to my satisfaction).

2 of them as monoblocks would have been great but waaay out of my budget.

As I suspect, any valve amp big enough would be too, alas.

 

[SundayNiagara]

Valve addiction. Once bitten, forever smitten.

Truer words have never been written!

If your speakers don't sound good with tubes, (valves) get speakers that do.

 

[hotroady]

Valve addiction. Once bitten, forever smitten.

Boy!! ain't that the truth. I had a couple of nice Sansui transistors, but tubes are addicting. I would say the amp is going to make a bigger dif, however the right pre, will bring out the most in it. Lucid highs w/o the edge of SS, mid range to die for. Bass is usually full enough, but not always tight. I can see not having enough power for larger stats, but 50w rms tube equals 125-150w SS. The smaller hybrids work well w 35-55w tube amps. I think rolling tubes in a pre, has more effect than rolling them in an amp. Tube amps are easier to mod, and there are custom tube amps that put out over 200w per channel. Bass can be tightened, also. Good NOS tubes are expensive, but cannot be matched for sound IMO. I'm waiting on my matched pre tube to come back from service. I have been using a very nice Van Alstine modded Pat- 5 SS pre...can't wait to hear the tube pre, the guys at the shop say they loved it. ML's love tubes..so do Klipsch and other horns.

 

[bernard991]

I have had tube pre's and amps for sometime now but since I have had ML's I could not ignore the fact that they are a little more responsive with lots of power ..
I was lucky enough to hear my pal's modded PS audio amp it was based on the earlier version of 'switching' amplifiers , the first thing that became apparent was how well they controlled my speakers
...well fast forward to now , I have a pr of Wyred 4 Sound mono amps , 500w @4ohms ...these plus my modded tube pre= heaven
they do not have any of that solid state sound that always came second when compared to tube amps ...instead have an organic rightness

 

[hotroady]

Yes,:ROFL: they do respond to more power, I noticed a little more authority when I hitched my 55w rms powerhouse integrated Fisher up. Ya know they always compare butter to veg oil. If you got a good SS amp that sounds like a tube, you got a good amp.

 

[timm]

so - is there such a thing as too much tubes? Going back to my post up yonder... I have all sunfire gear - and have wondered about a tube pre - but wondered about the synergy between the sunfire amp and a tube pre....since the sunfire leans towards warm... would a tube pre bring it too warm ... so to speak?

 

[hotroady]

Well..there such a wide array of preamps out there. You can tailor the sound to some degree; rolling tubes. Smooth long plate 12AX7 Telefunkens have a sparkle in the high end, that's hard to match. If I wanted more warmth in mid range, I could install Mullards or Amperex 5751's for a completely different effect.

 

[DTB300]

so - is there such a thing as too much tubes?

Yes it can be too much "magic" :ROFL:. But it all depends on your taste and what you are looking for in the way of sound - some love all tubes, some love parts of the setup with tubes, some do not like it at all.

Going back to my post up yonder... I have all sunfire gear - and have wondered about a tube pre - but wondered about the synergy between the sunfire amp and a tube pre....since the sunfire leans towards warm... would a tube pre bring it too warm ... so to speak?

Brendan has a little blurb in his 12AX7 section to help some folks with these types of tubes as an example for you on tailoring the sound:

https://www.tubeworld.com/12ax7.htm

Tube rolling is a whole 'nother addiction to this hobby - it can be endless or a lot of fun.

BTW, Eknuds01 has a Sunfire amp with ARC Pre + Aerius, and it sounds very good - at least to Erik and I.

 

[hotroady]

Try this site, probably the best on the net for explaining tube characteristics http://www.audiotubes.com/12ax7.htm

 

[C.A.P]

What a great thred. There is no Thred where SS lovers will debate as diligently as Tube guys will. I guess we are like Neanderthal man and just grunt a few times and move on to other things !

I am learning a lot from this thread and storing it in my pea sized brain for my next project !