2. amps-preamps
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To Tube or not to Tube......

For quite some time now I've been thinking about switching from a solid state to a tube power amp. My Threshold T-100 has been real good to me and I do like it, but it's really the only "high-end" amp I've ever owned, so it's all I know. I'm intrigued by the "warm" sound of tubes and do have a tubed phono amp and CD player, but I am by no means well-versed in the sound of tube power amps having never really auditioned one. I know that goes against the prevailing wisdom and I should listen before I buy, but I don't think I will have the luxury of doing that.

That being said, I've gone through about 20 pages of this forum reading about the benefits and detriments of tubed power amps but nothing I've read has swayed me either way. The posts I've read have been informative re: bias issues, reliability, blowing fuses or whatever else might blow up or go wrong with the tubs, etc. So, if I were to go the tube route, I would not want deal with too much of that hassle. At lease I know that the amp I have doesn't have any such issues. That's why I was leaning toward amps like BAT with their auto biasing (I also need balanced inputs), and would want at least 60-100 wpc. I would be willing to deal with adjusting bias so long as it was a relatively simple process.

I figured I would pose my main question to the exerts here (and this I did learn for this forum): given what I already have in my system, what tube amp would be a good match for me? My pre-amp is a SS Threshold, JM Lab speakers with a "minimum impedance of 4 Ohms," EAR 834P phono stage, & Unison tube cd player.
Much appreciated.
ebuzz
mikewerner
119 posts
 
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Someone commented on the occasional misinformation that surfaces here.
I agree.
Back to the guitar tube amp sub-topic.
It is my understanding that tubes are desired in that application because when they clip they produce harmonic distortion that is part of the desired sound.
A clipping transistor sounds WAY different and is NOT the sound that is wanted.
Guitar tube amps are frequently pushed to clipping because of the desired distortion. Think Hendrix!
Now an amp for a stereo is not pushed to clipping and so that benefit found in guitar tube amps does not transfer to tube amps used in Hi Fi.
Comparing guitar tube amps to Hi Fi tube amps is like comparing apples to oranges. They are both fruit, butÂ… the application is different!
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ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
OK, so there is a chance that the switch might not be all that I hope for, but it's a little too late for me now. My T-100 is sold so I've got to do something. At this point, I'm committed to giving tubes a try and hoping for the best. The sole issue is: a new Jolida 1000P or a used ARC VS115 with new tubes, in "excellent" condition for approx $800 more?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,993 posts
 
Ebuzz, make sure you have checked to see if there are any potential issues with the tube amp driving the loudspeakers you have.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
> Atmasphere: I have checked that and either amp will drive my speakers without issue.
wolf_garcia
6,739 posts
 
I use and have used over many years a lot of tube guitar amps and various hybrid or all SS amps, and the tone when ovedriven isn't necessarily the way to see what's what with a particular amp. I find any amp will develop a greasy overdrive when pushed, and often it's helped along with a (usually SS) distortion gizmo which further complicates the issue. I met Jimi Hendrix and watched him play a couple of times from about 9 feet away, and noticed that he often played using a clean tone at reasonable levels but, of course, using two (or 3) piles of high powered tube amps with 16 speakers in 4 cabinets made it possible to get his guitar to feed back at will. He cranked it also at times (with an early SS fuzz box), but those brilliant "comping chord" fill things were clean (but loud enough!). I judge any amp by its ability to put out a nice, powerful, and interesting clean punch...and add in the the grease fest from there onward. Low preamp settings with unristricted (not held back by master volume level) output power tubes (or transistors) will demonstrate the tonal characteristics and "feel" (instantaneous response) of an amp, and an experienced guitar player can easily "feel the differences between tube and SS in a New York minute. This translates easily to home gear, and I see the differences in the tonal response of tube or SS hifi amps as fitting exactly with what I've learned from my seemingly endless guitar and hifi amp fiddling. It's like comparing apples to other apples.
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