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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
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,785 posts
 
might be true for ralph's amps but this is something that is best NEVER to do
Yes!- in case it wasn't clear, don't pull power tubes out of any amp that has an output transformer while its running.
rikkipuu's avatar
rikkipuu
271 posts
 
There are good points about how much tube power you will need for your speakers.  They may not be a good match.  High power tube amps can be noisy, of course there are very quiet well made tube amps with 50 watts or more but well made and quiet tends to be expensive.  If you have the money go for a good one.  
Starting with a pre amp and SS amp may be an  easier way into tube sound and you speakers may be happier.  The Decware CSP3 is a very nice tube pre amp.  Decware also make very nice tube amplifiers.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,133 posts
 
Be8ng new to tubes my advise, Look at Ayon ,Why they had made in Austria Great build anti resonance machined aluminum not sheet metal  great Lundahl transformers very important for Fidelity 
most important, tube Safety ,Ayon has a Smart bias which is microprocessor controlled, you hit a button a few minute check 
it monitors wear and keeps each tube at optimum range under 80% of max last longer ,and if a tube goes bad ,not like some wear they glow red and explode or poor weak tube it Automatically goes into mute if a bad tube is detected
and you unplug ,or if not in the room after 15 minutes Automaticlly
Shuts off, on back indicator tells you which tube has the fault 
shut off 15 minutes ,replace tube ,turn on wait 15minutes to get up to temperature ,then hit rebias button volume off . In 3 -4 minutes 
processor calibrated blinking Ayon logo stops blinking ,ready for music .  Rebias check 1-2 months the best biasing system 
on the market I just bought another the spirit $5 is the new best of at around $5k the triton is the power house, for the average person 
the new Scorpio xs around $3100  USA tube audio 
is very good answering questions you may have the spirit I have older one 8 years old still runs perfect.

pkatsuleas
251 posts
 
Another great thread, very informative! 

OP, what is your preamp?  Didn't see that mentioned anywhere.  My suggestion would be to get yourself a good tube pre and see how you like it with your DNA 500.  I'm using a DNA .5 (100 watts) with a Rogue Perseus tube pre and very happy for now.  Started small and cheap with a Schiit Saga tube pre which sounded good but knew I could do better.  As you've probably read here and elsewhere this could be the best of both worlds for you and a worry free entry into tubes (no biasing, etc.).   

I do have a Jolida 502b tube integrated (60 watts, Gold Lion KT88) that I used for years and still do occasionally.  The Jolida definitely gives you more of that "tube magic" but the .5/Perseus combo gives better bass control and punch.  

BTW, my speakers are old Snell Type D (rated at 87 dB and 5 ohms) and  not quite so old Gallo Ref 3.1 (88dB, 4 - 8 ohms?).  The Jolida powers them both quite satisfactorily for me in the 80 - 90 dB range.  Although, the Gallos do seem to play just a bit louder/cleaner before any hint of distortion.  I am very interested in trying some speakers over 90 dB with the Jolida.  Unfortunately, can't afford any Tannoys right now!  ;-}

Keep us posted
decooney
1,970 posts
 
+1
@pkatsuleas My suggestion would be to get yourself a good tube pre and see how you like it with your DNA 500...

@dsper
Exactly. If you like separates, try this for a while if you want to learn and appreciate the differences a little more.   Allows you to leverage your current DNA-500 on the back end for a while. Add a really nice tube preamp on the front end. Get some good input/driver tubes. Still a bit 2D sounding, but it gets you half way there and its fun to learn how half tube and full tube sounds. 

Then curiosity about full 3D tube sound sets in for some after hearing the tube preamp in the loop awhile with SS amp on the back end. At that point, start eyeballing your future tube amplifier and decent interconnect cables to go along with the all tube setup.  Doing this in steps is fun too.


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