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Never Owned a Tube Amp and Want Advice

Hi All, 

I have never owned a tube amplifier before and am planning to purchase one with a minimum of 50 watts per channel to mate with 8 ohm 88 dbl speakers.

My hope is experienced audiogoners will share their expertise regarding how to approach this. While I realize listening is the best way to learn about sound and compatibility; I want to learn a better understanding about brands with less maintenance and longer tube life, how to decide between mono or stereo,can a newbie play with bias or is auto biasing a better first choice, etc.

I would also appreciate what to look for in selecting a used tube amp to identify one that might be in need of repair. For example, with solid state depending on the brand, capacitor replacement can be more of a concern. Any advice on what to look out for or ask about with used tube amps would be appreciated.

A big question I have is how to understand the relationship between power tubes like E34's, 120.s, etc. and, I guess the driver? tubes like 12au7's and 12at7's. That  is to ask which is more critical to the overall sound of the amp? FWIW, I routinely tube roll with my preamps.  

I 've read through a number of threads but maybe someone can point me to good ones I may have missed. 

Thanks for listening,

Dsper
dsper
luisma31
516 posts
 
OP,
As larryi said sibilance is present in many recordings, no matter what you do is inherently in it, probably not what you listen to but Marc Anthony - Flor Pálida and A-ha - unplugged Hunting High and Low could show you some sibilance which is unavoidable.
boothroyd
365 posts
 
In regards to the analog seeming a bit thin and tipped to the treble in comparison to your digital which is fuller with better soundstage, you may notice the tonearm exhibiting a "Tail up" attitude with the arm resting in the groove towards the end - even with the arm height adjustment at its lowest setting. If so, use of a lightweight (your cartridge tracks light ~ 1.25g suggesting high compliance) 3mm cartridge/headshell spacer installed between the cartridge and headshell using longer screws would allow for a more optimal (level with record) VTA or tonearm attitude.

Your MicroLine™ stylus may have a much better chance of findings it's sweet spot SRA/VTA once basic geometry is improved.

Outstanding turntable :-)
mesch
3,523 posts
 
Desper, I have been following your journey. Since retirement, one of the things I have enjoyed in this hobby was the exploration of different approaches. From this I have gotten to understand what others before me have found, and have a better understanding of what I am actually looking for in a system. 
jollygreenaudiophile2's avatar
jollygreenaudiophile2
275 posts
 
"Wolf_Garcia", said,
   clear as a bell using a 12wpc or so little SEP amp...no clue how hard I'm pushing the little amp (it gets loud...sometimes...often
"12" whole watts?
Whoa,  Why such a powerful amp?
I still love my "4" watt, PSE mono-blocks. Now nicknamed "The Twin Beasts".
 And with 132+Lbs. between them?
 It works out to 16.5Lbs. of amplifier, per "1" whole watt!
You helped me out with those a couple of years ago Wolf!
Remember? "The one's with the 300B's".
 Still pushing the same 98DB speakers too. A "purely resistive load".
 And thanks again for the help!

Um, just to say. From now on?
  I believe that I'll taking "Ralph's", word on it......
dsper OP
663 posts
 
What you will/may notice when a tube amp is driving a speaker with low impedance dips is an uneven frequency response, e.g. the speakers may sound "bright".
I read this comment again and realize I probably ignored the the second part of the comment about how this could make the speakers sound bright.

This got me to thinking and I re-examined my setup one more time. To make a long story short, I finally realized that while I was moving equipment in and out, I had moved my Synergistic Research interconnects from their customary location between the DAC and the the Preamp. I moved them back and the sibilance is greatly reduced.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper



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