2. amps-preamps
  3. 163837-156378

Tube virgin looking for tube amp under $3k

I’ve never owned any tube amps or preamps and since I’ve got 95dB efficient speakers I thought why the heck not? And wow! What a rabbit hole I’ve gone down In the last week or so and my head is really spinning. For just about every amp or amp/preamp combo there’s someone who loves it and someone who says don’t bother. And then the more I dig, the more brands I find.

I’ve read about these products recently:

— Erhard Audio integrated amp 
—The various iterations of the ST-70 (Van Alstein, Bob Latino, Will Vincent, etc.)
—Music Reference RM10
—Cary (out of budget except used)
—Raven (at max budget for integrated)
—Dennis Had (hard to buy/find)
—Quicksilver Mid mono (need preamp)
—Decware (too long a wait for me at the moment but maybe one day)
—Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum III (at max budget and do I really need 100WPC with my speakers in a small room?)

And probably a few others I’ve forgotten about already. 

I have to say that the Bob Latino ST-70 speaks to me for the price of entry (about $1400) and the fact that I could get away without a preamp and only use a passive input selector. That said, would an ST-70 be the best choice or only the cheapest? 

Any ideas for a tube newb who doesn’t have a stockpile of tubes to roll in and out of an amp?




larshepping
jsal3689
84 posts
 
Audiogon has 2 Cary integrateds under $3k. Not only great sound, they are beautiful to look at. For $2,500. And $2,700.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa85jc-cary-audio-cad-280sa-v12r-tube


https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa858f-cary-audio-sli-80-sig-tube
goldprintaudio's avatar
goldprintaudio
502 posts
 
Cary SLI80 is a great choice.  Raven should also work well.

Another you might want to consider is the Line Magnetic 34ia.  It's a nice sounding unit.

I would look for a preowned Leben 300xs.....it would be another fantastic option.
larshepping OP
34 posts
 
Cary SLI-80 sure is gorgeous to look at. Is 80WPC too much for 95dB sensitive speakers? Though it’s only 40WPC in triode mode so there’s that....
mofojo
2,314 posts
 
The Octave integrated I heard was really good. If I was looking for a tube integrated that's what I would probably buy.
If you change your speakers in the future to something less efficient the Octave will be up to the task. Ellington Hifi sometimes has lightly used ones for very good prices. Not really a classic tubey sound which if you want may not be the ticket for you. 
smrex13
645 posts
 
I'd also suggest Primaluna.  You can probably find a very good price on a used integrated.  For a first-time tube user, Primaluna is a great option.  It's easy to use (automatic tube biasing), sounds good, is built very well, and can take several different kinds of power tubes if you want to experiment down the line. 

Good luck!
Scott
More to discover