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Advice for newbie on Tube gear

I'm seriously condsidering getting into tubes (valves here in UK).
I saw & heard them once at a hifi show & have been fantasising ever since.
I'm a bit tech illiterate.
I've been offered Sonic Frontiers SFL-2 preamp + SFCD-1 CD player (240V) for US$2200. Cond is v.good, tubes are about 18mths old. I'll probably buy an ss power amp also(below $700 used).
I'd appreciate any advice on what I'm letting myself in for :
How difficult is it to find & change tubes , How will I know when tubes need to be changed , How much will it cost , What else will I need to do (biasing???, capacitor replacing...).
Are tube SF units low maintenance? I don't really have much spare time ,and am easily confused by techy things.
My system : nothing left apart from AQ Diamond X3 i/c's, AQ Sterling spkr cable, and an old pair of excellent highly sensitive (96db), hi-end(ish) French speakers - Helius Sirius II (only a few made in the '70s/'80s).
sporter2
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Buying tube gear instead of transistor gear is like buying a horse instead of a car. The horse may be a more interesting means of travel, but it isn't as practical, and will take a great deal of care and patience on your part.

When I got into "HI-FI" everything was tubes, and you grumbled if a power amp cost more than a dollar a watt. Tube equipment needed continious tweeking...hum, microphonics, distortion...and the list goes on. If your hobby is fiddling with electronics, rather than listening to music, you will love tubes. Nothing wrong with that..I went through that phase myself. The "gassy" output tubes of one amp that I had began to glow, pulsating with the music with (strangely) little audible effect. It was so beautiful that I didn't replace the tubes for a long while!

Eventually I was happy to give up tubes, and be rid of all their difficulties. Solid state may not be perfect, but on balance I think its pros outweigh the cons.

If you do get tubes: (1) Yes tube technology is more appropriate for a preamp. (2) Get an old Dynaco power amp to play with. Don't jump into a multi Kilobuck (Kilopound)
power amp that you are afraid to tweek. You will learn more from the Dynaco.
Post removed 
lafish
151 posts
 
Complete tube is the best resolution rather than going half tube and half SS. Sonic Frontiers is more close to solidstate feel. So I bet you prefer to have good dynamic movement in music, and also fast bass response.

My suggestion is to have SFCD1 (about US$1000 to US$1500), depends on condition. Then go for a solidstate pre power combo.

If you made the will to go for full tube gears, considering your high efficient French speaker (96db), why not go for a 300B tube integrated amp like Consonance Reference 5.0?
mahandave
153 posts
 
"I'm seriously thinking of getting into tubes" "I'd appreciate ANY advise on what I'm letting myself in for" Sounds like a general question on tubes to me?? Mabe my response should be go ahead and buy this stuff- you might like it, you might not but thats ok, it's your money not mine. I say go for it! Ya right. uhg
sporter2 OP
2 posts
 
Sincere thanks to each who's posted a response (5 at the time of writing).
There must be many who've benefitted from these answers (I previously hadn't found all these answers on these forums - simple though they may be, but VERY informative to a novice).
Each suggestion/information has genuinly been helpful to me ... 300B's, Eldartford's experience, Sbanks explanation of the tubes and biassing, the TriodeGuild site, and Viridian's excellent to the point explanation of my particular situation.

I feel that I may be able to tackle the tube buying/replacing fear, and cope with the biassing (not so confident). I'm hoping I may be able to get away with doing minimal maintenance with the tubed pre & CD, and may even look into SF's own power amps (SF80..?).

Meanwhile I'm going for the SF tubed pre & CD (They look so good together I can't separate!).

Many many thanks!!!
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