- Chuck, thanks for the reply. That was my original plan if I liked It. Most of these nicer amps like Carey have a hefty restocking fee which I was trying to avoid. I figured on perceiving the tube quality through defects and if I liked what I was hearing, then return. I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the quality of sound with this cheaper product. It seems to have, if any, only small non-musical negatives of which longevity would be to me the most important .
- Roberjermam, I will have to look into these other products. What is unique about the push pull design? Why would someone prefer this over a SET for example? Thanks
- Chayro, I was amazed at how much better it sounded after hours of warm- up. I didn’t mind the bias adjusting or the wait. How would you know when a tube starts to fail and how much can/does reasonable tube rolling cost?
First Tube Amp
I have been listening to a 90's SS amp(200 wpc @ 8ohms) for 25 years and thought I would finally give a tube amp a try.
I ordered a $500-800 chinese push pull(40 wpc) integrated tube amp, with 4 El34 tubes, and 2 12AX7, and 2 12AU7 tubes.
I figured this would introduce me to the so-called "tube-sound", perhaps an exaggerated version, that I have been reading about on this forum, then after a week of exposure, most likely return it for a full refund and decide if I want to go down the hole further with more prestigious versions.
To my surprise, I am floored by the quality of sound it produces. I wasn't expecting this at all. Initially, I thought it had some distortion of the high frequencies and a bloated low end but after 75 hours of break-in this essentially disappeared. The bass is thunderous, contrary to the limited reviews on the internet. The quiet passages are dead silent. I am hearing very different interpretations of CD's that I have listened to for years(classical) on my SS amp. Particularly when single instruments are played the sound is unbelievably sweet. Pizzicato is more forward. Part of this new experience I owe to the newly acquired speakers, which have opened up a sensitivity to recordings that I have not known to exist - I hear musician movements and breaths in the orchestra at 98.82dB 2.83V@1m .
I am struggling with returning this amp, in the midst of a paradigm shift: chinese junk has become on par with high end, how can it get better than this? What would other types of tube amps of better quality offer? How would other types of tubes("rolling") sound. How would a SET amp sound different(a 300b SET). A PL(also chinese made) with an array of tunes versus some of the boutique models that have half as many tubes?
Thanks for your help.
I ordered a $500-800 chinese push pull(40 wpc) integrated tube amp, with 4 El34 tubes, and 2 12AX7, and 2 12AU7 tubes.
I figured this would introduce me to the so-called "tube-sound", perhaps an exaggerated version, that I have been reading about on this forum, then after a week of exposure, most likely return it for a full refund and decide if I want to go down the hole further with more prestigious versions.
To my surprise, I am floored by the quality of sound it produces. I wasn't expecting this at all. Initially, I thought it had some distortion of the high frequencies and a bloated low end but after 75 hours of break-in this essentially disappeared. The bass is thunderous, contrary to the limited reviews on the internet. The quiet passages are dead silent. I am hearing very different interpretations of CD's that I have listened to for years(classical) on my SS amp. Particularly when single instruments are played the sound is unbelievably sweet. Pizzicato is more forward. Part of this new experience I owe to the newly acquired speakers, which have opened up a sensitivity to recordings that I have not known to exist - I hear musician movements and breaths in the orchestra at 98.82dB 2.83V@1m .
I am struggling with returning this amp, in the midst of a paradigm shift: chinese junk has become on par with high end, how can it get better than this? What would other types of tube amps of better quality offer? How would other types of tubes("rolling") sound. How would a SET amp sound different(a 300b SET). A PL(also chinese made) with an array of tunes versus some of the boutique models that have half as many tubes?
Thanks for your help.
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- 35 posts total
- 35 posts total