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.




recluse
Welcome to the wonderful world of vacuum tube audio.  A word of caution on SETs.  In your OP, you talked about classical, which can have a very wide dynamic range.  Although your speakers are quite high efficiency, these peaks can require lots and lots of power (logarithmic relationship between volume and power).  This is important because an SET amp's distortion rises quickly with power output.  A 300b SET makes about 8 watts. Even if you do not drive the amp into clipping, you may start to hear that distortion as a kind of harshness and a loss of the SET "bloom" for which the amps are prized.  Depending on your room size, listening levels, etc., this may or may not be a problem for you.  In my 14 x 23 x 8' room, I eventually gave up on 8-12w SETS with 94-96 dB speakers, even though I listen to music that does not have the wide dynamic range of classical.  I settled on 2 amps having 30 wpc; one OTL and one push-pull.  Lastly, do not get hung up on topology or tube type.  Once you get past basics, it's implementation (and for non-OTL amps, transformer quality) that is/are key.  There are GREAT tube amps using OTL, PP, and SET circuits, with EL-34, 300b, KT-88, EL-84 etc, etc power tubes. 

And +1 to the idea of a tube pre-amp. 
Thanks for responding.

As someone already mentioned, speakers are 8 ohm, the DI’s, and the amp is Yaquin. Speaker cables are 6’. My room size is on the small side and I don’t particularly like to play music loud.

Roxy , which 300 b do you have?

By bloom do you mean harmonics. Atmosphere, I think I found the corresponding website ;-) how would something would sound with loss of “low-level detail” which is what happens with push pull amps. I’m guessing more “bandwidth” is more frequency response or range?

Do SET,s lose their”bandwidth” or fail only when pushed to hard/loud?


First I would like to congratulate you for trying something new. As you may have already heard quality does count so I’m going to tell you it’s a lot better to buy a used high-quality to band that he needs to buy a new Chinese tube amp.
So I’m going to make one quick recommendation Conrad Johnson any of the premier line and a nice quality preamp


The first time I heard tubes was with a pair of McIntosh MC30s a buddy of mine lent me. They belonged to his deceased dad and he had no way to use them then. I had had a Bryston 3B and a Citation 12 in my system. No slouches, they, but I was hooked immediately! The tube sound just can't be beat. I now own a PrimaLuna Prologue Premium Integrated amp and would never dream of going back to solid-state.

P.S., my buddy is getting his McIntoshes back. He's getting the bug again...
The build quality as mentioned above is usually the issue with these amps.  They work great and sound good but the design is usually unstable so in the long run there are usually issues.  There are many other tube amps that you can pick-up that are really very good.  Think older CJ amps used for around $800 to $1200.  These can be upgrade and sound fantastic then.

Happy Listening.