2. amps-preamps
  3. 167036-159831

Tubes for Magnepan’s.

I think next up on my acquisition list is a tube amplifier. I'm not looking for the be all end all, cause I don’t think there is a definitive "Best", so am looking for as good as I can get for $3-4k.


Because tubes drive speakers so much more efficiently than solid state I am only looking for 40-50 watts to drive my modded Maggie’s, 1.7i's. (Or what you have when you add a new crossover and planer tweeters to 1.7i's.) Maybe 2.7x? I haven’t settled on that yet. And I have some Zu Dirty Weekend's upgraded to the max coming in in 2 months to replace my KEF's.

Anyway, I haven’t had a tube device since my Halicrafter short wave radio, and reviews are not the same as advice from people that own something. There is a Rouge Audio dealer in my area, last I looked, (opps, they no longer carry them), so I may have to go to another market to hear something, or get a try before you buy from a manufacturer or dealer.

You folks have taught me a lot, and I think asking users is the right thing to do on this change in direction.

Thanks in advance.
william53b
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,579 posts
 
I'm a big fan of tube based systems and I have run MMGs and .7s with tube amps. I'm not such a big fan of high power tube amps though, due to the heat and expense of running quads, sixes, and octets of big power tubes (and I own a pair of six-pacs). Maggie 1.7s need power and a 50 watt tube amp is going to fall a little short with the 1.7s in most installations. You are much better off using a tube preamp and a solid state amp. 
william53b's avatar
william53b OP
211 posts
 
@russ69

Thank you. I don’t listen to the Maggie’s, 99% of the time, at high volume. And I will also use it to drive the Zu’s on and off.

The instrument and studio supply company Sweetwater has a piece on guitar head amps and how a tube amp of modest wattage will outdrive solid state by a wide margin: Now I can’t find it! Argh! I will look.

Any suggestions on a tube preamp? I like Schiit audio and have considered the Freya, but if I go that route I may want better sound from a pre than what the Freya is reported to provide.

Again, I am lost here.
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,579 posts
 
I've only had a few tube preamps, a Head, a Conrad Johnson PV, a couple of Audio Research, and a Cary SLP-98. I kept the Cary. In the budget preamp segment I would look at the Quicksilver but I have never heard that one myself.  
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