Can tube amps play loudly?

Make sure you get an amp that has a volume knob that goes to "11."

Cds9000,

Many tube amps will rock your house down. Achieving volume won't be your quandry. Finding an amp that will cover the wide range of your musical genres will. It's a little like playing golf with five clubs in the bag. It can be done, but you will notice the gaps in the tool kit.

My wife and I went through a similar audio journey, and we settled on two systems run from one CD player. We owned and auditioned many tube amps--even as powerful as 140W-- and while they had the warmth and 3-dimensionality we loved, we could not find one that had the bass impact we wanted for rock/metal/blues. Again, not a volume issue. Rather, more of a tonal requirement.

If we had only one amp, we would keep our hybrid. It is not the 'best' at anything, but it covers every genre quite capably. That is not to suggest that it would be right for you. Rather, I would say that it is most important to look/listen for the amp (and speakers, which are just as crucial) that will answer to YOUR listening needs. In the end, you may notice those 'gaps in the tool bag', but there are some amp/speaker pairings that will ultimately satisfy you on all counts.

All the best,

Howard

You might also consider getting a tube pre-amp and a solid state amp so you can get the best of both worlds. Dan

Chris- So then the answer to your question is an resolute "yes" tube amps can play "loudly" and be very satisfying at those volumes. My point was that it may not necessicarily be the information you were after as it really speaks nothing to the quaility of the presentation. Having identified yourself as a "tube newbie" I took it you were after a more thorough explanation. To answer the other question you posed in response to me: "Yes" again, there are plenty of tube-based offerings in the $1500 range, both new and used, that would be stellar performers and make for a huge improvement over your current system, at least from my musical preferences (which lean strongly towards acoustical, vocals, jazz, folk, blues and not much rock (though some) in the mix. Seek out further info by searching the archives both here and on Audioasylum. Off the top of my head, and from direct experience, I could recommend the following: Jolida 302B or 502B (the later with a bit more power and bass authority), Quicksilver Mini-Mites (most of the Quicksilver offerings would serve you well, but research before you invest there), Mesa Baron (this tube powerhouse would lean more towards the rockin' out side while giving you quite a bit of latitude in choice of presentation (switches between pentode and triode as well as in between - but this amp is also expensive to re-tube as it requires a lot of tubes). Of Hybrid amps they may also provide you with a great solution to your needs, I'd agree there. Not much experience to speak of, but I haver listened at length to the Unison Unico in two similar systems. Loved it the first time and was lukewarm the second (different room, different comparisons). There are also some SS Class A amps that may float your boat combining the warmth of tubes with the dynamics of SS. Pass Labs Aleph series does this quite well (my experience was with the Aleph 5 which is a very sweet amp indeed. The 3 and 30 are more affordable used. That brings up two more questions that you may want to answer for more focused advice from others: How big is the room you are going to be playint this system in, and does your budget have room for a preamp, or are you looking for an integrated? If you are stuck on tubes my view would be that most good push/pull designs are a good compromise for all types of programming. If you are going to go pentode you may want to consider the hybrid alternatives, or go SS as my experience with pentode is that it leans more in that direction taking away alot of the dimensionality that many associate with tubes better served by PP, Triode and SET designs. As always, just one more opinion in the fray.

Marco

"I’d like to be able to narrow down my speaker choices before I start shopping seriously, because I don’t want to waste my time or a dealer’s."

If you had to go out tomorrow and purchase a system, you could do worse than the modified Cayin's you mentioned, or either of the C-J integrated or amplifiers I mentioned - coupled with Vandersteen 2Ce Signature speakers. I have always liked these speakers as they have a wonderful ("lifelike) midrange for jazz and vocals, but still do well with rock and roll as they are a box speaker. Stereophile Class "B" for two or three or four years running; for $1675 (new, with stands) they are a real deal.

From their web-site: Vandersteen 2Ce Signature

IMPEDANCE:
7 ohms nominal 4 ohms minimum.
SENSITIVITY:
86dB with 2.83 volts of pink noise input at 1 meter on axis.
RECOMMENDED AMPLIFICATION:
40 to 160 watts per channel into 8 ohms.

Other options: Stereophile mentions the Pathos Acoustics Classic One as a Class "A" integrated amp ($2295 new) - as best I can tell it is a hybrid unit, with 70 wpc @ 8 ohms and 130 wpc at 4 ohms. Any of the Musical Fidelity units seem to be good - they are solid state but more tube sounding than most (I am told). Their X-150 is class "B" rated and would do well with Magnepan MG12's or 1.6's - but I don't think a planar speaker is the way you want to go, based on what you have said.

"The Absolute Solund" lists the Maggies and Vandersteens listed above as "Best Buys" in their price categories; also listed under integrated amplifiers are the Musical Fidelity X-150 and Audio Research VSi55 ($2995 new, less than $2000 used (?)).

I don't ever see Jolida mentioned anywhere;I expect they are just good but not great - as stock units. I talked to the owner of Underwood Hi-Fi in Atlanta briefly and he seems quite competent - he would sell you a new, with full warranty, Jolida 502b with mods for $1600 plus shipping (www.underwoodhifi.com). Or, there are used Jolidas on Agon.

Hope this is helpful; to summarize, an audition of a decent tube integrated amp with Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures would be a great place to start. If you like the speakers, you can then find a tube amp to suit...