Tube Amps

The previous post by AVguy makes a good point: moderately priced tube amps can, and usually do, sound quite different than comparably priced solid state amps (due mainly to the much higher cost for transformers in the tube amps). The performance difference between tube and solid state amps have been narrowing over the past 10 years, but that's mainly true for the higher-priced models.

If you want to experiment with a tube amp, you might look for a used Quicksilver amp, which is user-friendly and offers good performance for the money. You might also consider some of the very good tube amps now being made in Asia (mainly China and Taiwan), which offer good value due to their lower manufacturing costs.

What type of music do you generally listen to? That also will play a big part in whether or not the tubes will be appropriate for your tastes, and help pinpoint which tube amps you might want to consider.

Let us know what kind of music you generally listen to, and I'm sure that you will get plenty of excellent recommendations that would fit the bill.
All the best,

Howard

Boa2
thanks for the follow up
i love vintage jazz...coltrane, chestnut,sandoval,billy taylor and of course krall and recently cincotti
i do like classical music...but not much orchestral or opera. Mainly piano and vilolin
and of course i do rock every so often...floyd,eagles and ray vaughn,etc
that is the spectrum of music i enjoy
like i said these amps have an enourmous appeal to me on the visual basis..favorites Mcintosh 2000(i believe) and like the looks of BAT units. Also any tubes come in class A outputs?
many thanks for your help

I would take a look at the Quicksilver mono blocks that allow you to put in different types of output tubes...KT88,EL34,6L6 and others, providing you have enough power. This way you can 'listen' to various types as well as brands of tubes. Not the easiet to set up but then again definitely not the hardest. Also Quicksilver's sound pretty good too! Oh yes, Quicks also hold the resale value.

As Alex & Sdcampbell both said, the Quicksilver products are superb. Their Mini-Mono's have a very open sound, eerily close to that of SET (single ended triode), which has an intimate, holographic midrange. You can use a variety of tubes with them, and they are self-biasing. They would easily power your system in that 12 x 12 room, and if you like them, I would suggest trying them out with a more efficient speaker. It would be worth your time to hear them with an older Klipsch Heresy or Forte, especially on the music that you like.
There is a pair of Mini-Monos for sale at $525 here (they usually go for $700 or so). They are exceptionally good amps. You can pick up one of their preamps for around $500-600 used, and even if you play around with NOS tubes and upgraded power cords, you will be well under your budget.

Another superb amp is the Audiomat Arpege. Incredibly musical, and about $1250-1400 used).

Also, If you have not heard SET amps, and you like class A, I would recommend giving them an audition. Like many people, my wife and I became completely addicted to their holographic midrange. You will experience their full benefit with a more efficient speaker, particularly because many of them are between 3 and 12 watts, but they sound absolutely magical. We generally play our 7W SET with our 104db horns, but with our 95db Silverline speakers, Pink Floyd etc. sounds fantastic. However, it's with jazz, vocals and classical that they really shine.
Hope this helps.

Howard