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
davehg
85 posts
 
The best tube amp under $3k I’ve owned is the VAC Avatar SE. Let’s you switch triode and ultra linear. Beautifully made and I think it had a remote. One of a few pieces I regretted selling.

You might try a Leben CS300 series. It’s lower on power though, and the CS600 series would do better but they are in the $4k range.

I use a Woo Audio WA5 which is a 300b amp, and powers efficient speakers and inefficient headphones with ease. You can find them in the mid $3k range on sites like Head-Fi, and it was favorably reviewed in Stereophile, as was the Leben 600.

all prices above reflect used gear, and all above are integrated amps.
passet02's avatar
passet02
267 posts
 
I guess the Rogue or if you can go a few more bucks ? the Audio Hungary I-20 . More dealers are picking up the line I wish I had the $$$ before the price goes . A dealer loaned me the amp very nice unit the sound was top notch .
moto_man
365 posts
 
+1 on the PrimaLuna DiaLogue Premier HP, which is just the amp.  Runs beautifully with my Focal Diablo Utopia III's, for a tube move, like I am, it is no-hassle.  auto biasing, lights to show if there is a failing tube, 70W per channel in Pentode mode, switchable to triode mode.  It is a really nice unit that I believe retails for $3800.
gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 
I forgot to list the Atmasphere UV-1.
It is pretty basic, but it does have a nice sound, and is definitely under 3K used.
Bob
mesch
3,510 posts
 
Yes, the Atmasphere UV-1 should have been mentioned. Just under $2000 retail. A 6sn7 based unit. Great company to work with. 
More to discover