If you can get someone who had done it to mentor you, consider building a tube amp from a kit such as Bottlehead. Use polypropylene instead of electrolytic capacitors in the power supply so you not only will never have to replace them in the future, they have less internal resistance for better slew rate, at least for push-pull. You will be glad you did it and with guidance it is easier than you think.
Desire to try tubes
So I am new to this have no audio contacts, and low budget it seems based on reading forum. I inherited my brothers Heresy I’s (and LP /CD collection) two years ago and started my journey. First bought a Rega P3 and Rega Fono stage running with existing 20 yo Denon 5.1. Then upgraded the Hereseys from Crites with crossovers and new tweeters (46 yo units). Months later after research and savings bought Stellar GCD and Stellar S 300 amp along with Syzygy SLF 870 sub from Underwoodwally. Nice! Next Marantz 6006 CD as transport and Underwood Emerald Physics and Core Power gold power cords and speaker cables. As able Audio Quest entry connects for all. Each move improved sound. Added a Bluesound node 2i as well only listening to Pandora though. I have no reference to options as I’ve only owned Hereseys and never heard a tube amp in a home and am very curious if a tube pre-amp would be a big plus? If I tried one could muster up to 5k. Just looking for the best sound quality I can afford.
Room is 14.6 x 14.10 x sloped ceiling 8-13’ with 5’ flat section at 13.
Room is 14.6 x 14.10 x sloped ceiling 8-13’ with 5’ flat section at 13.
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Tried many things and I have the Heresy II. Loving the new PAS-M and Stereo 120 solid state Kenny Russell made for me and I like it better than gear costing several times the price. Kenny can even make you an ST70 tube amp for a great price. His work is world class. Amazing performance! https://funtasticvintronics.com/collections |
Hey bilyeauxbrew, I have tube and solid state offerings you may want to check out. I'd be glad to talk with you about what you want and what I can do for you. Visit me here https://funtasticvintronics.com/ You can message me through my site if you have questions, we can talk on the phone too if necessary. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. |
What a fun place to be! I’ll bet many of those who’ve posted on this thread would love to be in your position, with so many great sounding, high value options out there. But the purpose of this post is to simply share my very positive experience with my purchase of a Supratek preamp from Australia. And if you go to the tab at the top of this forum and look at Most popular threads you’ll see the "preamp deal of the century" thread, which discusses the Supratek preamps. Don’t mean to sound like a broken record (though i suppose i do), but mine really opened my eyes. I’m thinking the Supratek, the Aric, the Atma-sphere, the Don Sachs, the Dehavilland (if you can find one), the Rogue... these are all solid recommendations that will (IMHO) delight you... I am in the "separates" camp. |
I just auditioned the $400. Reising model 100 amp that has gotten good reviews. Just not enough power even for 90 db speaker's. You need horns like a pair of Klipsch M600s. That said, I was so impressed with the sound and build quality, I ordered another well reviewed integrated tube amp on Amazon. The Muzishare x7 with four KT88s and 45 watts output. That should do it. There are several of these amp that are basically similar in configuration and have remotes. The X7, the Willsenton and one from a Canadian guy at Musical Paradise (55 watts). All in the $1300 range. In between are several amp at 40 watts that have four EL34 tubes and no remote for about $700. At the beginning of the virus house arrest, I swore that I wouldn't go tubes again but they keep dragging me back in. Nothing like it. Only down side is no sub out so you would have to wire any subs on the high output terminals. Lots of wires. |
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