Somebody Help Convert me to tubes

Hi Dewinkle - I went through your same debate about 12 months ago. I had a solid state Threshold S/250 (125w/c) and FET9/e preamp driving Alon II speakers and had used this combo together for 12 years. The Alons are 87db and recommend 175w/c as a minimum. The high current Threshold had no issue driving the Alons to house shattering levels. As my search for a "tube" solution began, I quickly realized there are not many tube amps > 175w/c that mortals can afford. Also, my stereo rack did not allow space for monoblocks so I needed a stereo amp.

The Threshold/Alon combination had great bass response and sounded super with rock music. However, with jazz, instrumental and classical, I felt like I was missing something.

I first added a Mac C2200 tube preamp and it "smoothed" out the sound quite a bit. After adding the preamp, with good results, I just had to try a tube amp as well. After much deliberation, I added a Mac MC2102 (100w/c) tube amp. The Mac combo delivers 90-95% of the bass response I was used to, but the difference in instruments and vocals was phenomenal.

Tubes will be a little more expensive over the long haul, however, I do not regret my changes one bit. I cannot address your "power hungry" Theils - never had the opportunity to hear any.

Just my 2 cents - Good luck in your seach...

Diwinkle,

from this thread I think it is plain to see that if nothing else tubes in any part of your system will make a difference. IMHO the pre-amp is the straw that stirs the coffee. I started out with tubes 35 years ago as a kid. Watched them go out of style when SS took off. I had a all SS system up until a couple of weeks ago. I finally took the plunge and purchased a audio research ref 2, what a difference it had on my system. It made the cd's on my Wadia sound like vilny. I personally don't want the hassle of tube rolling and trying to guess when the tubes are at end of life so I think I am going to stop at just having a tube pre. I've been told by my dealer that tubes in a pre will last for years. I would only caution that if you go for a tube pre try to get the best unit your budget will allow. Every thing passes through it so your whole system will take on the flavor of your pre. I don't think the source is as important as I stated my CDP started sounding like my TT which was a real bonus. I had started favoring vilny over my cd's even though I had way more selection in cd's. In any event your ears will be the judge. You maybe able to audition a tube pre from a local dealer which will tell you right away if the sound is right for your system.

Diwinkle,

from this thread I think it is plain to see that if nothing else tubes in any part of your system wll make a difference. IMHO the pre-amp is the straw that stirs the coffee. I started out with tubes 35 years ago as a kid. Watch them go out of style when SS took off. I had a SS up until a couple of weeks ago. I finally took the plunge and purchased a audio research ref 2, what a difference it had on my system. It made the cd's on my Wadia sound like vinyl. I personally don't want the hassle of tube rolling and trying to guess when the tubes are at end of life so I think I am going to stop at just having a tube pre. I've been told by my dealer that tubes in a pre will last for years. I would only caution that if you go for a tube pre try to get the best unit your budget will allow. Every thing passes through it so your whole system will take on the flavor of your pre. I don't think the source is as important as I stated my CDP started sounding like my TT which was a real bonus. I had started favring vinyl over my cd's even though I had way more selection in cd's. In any event your ears will be the judge. You maybe able to audition a tube pre from a local dealer which will tell you right away if the sound is right for your system.

If you don't want to rebuild your whole system, keep what you have and try to be happy. If you get a tubed preamp it will likely just be the beginning of a whole system transformation.

FWIW, the 38S cannot be upgraded to a 380S anymore. I had one a couple months ago and e-mailed about upgrading. I was told they no longer offer this option.

This might sound pretty weak by comparison to the other suggestions here. There are several avenues to take though, so I thought I would throw in my 2 cents. Consider a tube headphone amp. This is relatively inexpensive and easy to move in and out of an established system. I got a musical Fidelity headphone amp when I was considering the idea of experimenting with tubes. very simple to use! Sound quality would be whatever you might decide about it, but I have loved mine all along. I think alternatives offer more a tradional tube sound if you think you would like explore that, and I am sure there is better performance to be found elsewhere too. This is all to say that there is yet another place to start amongst the choices you have that might seem less intimidating. If you decide this option there are many resources available on the internet that will into depth about headphone amplifiers and those options. The archives here, and then Audio Asylum, and then more specifically Headphone.com would have- as one example, a lot of information. Not the same as a speaker system, of course, but a way to gain some experience at less cost and complication.