Well just bought a emotiva a2m 50 w desktop amp that has a kick butt headphone output on it that's going to be my amplifier now I'm just looking for a two to $300 little tube preamp maybe something off of Amazon something inexpensive to mess around with until I find the right sound.
Need help picking my first tube amp
Hey guys i want to get into tubes, i have heard wayyyyyyy to much and am dying to try a tube amp. I have a budget of 650 us dollars, not sure if i want a pre amp, or full tube amp. Im thinking pre amp cause i would really like it to drive headphones and then run it into a amp and then to speakers.
Been reading alot about Chineese tube amps and not sure what to think. I have my eye on Xduoo TA-26 gets rave reviews has anybody used it ? anyways looking for any input i can get, thanks.
Michael
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- 53 posts total
@holmz So I have Mac C33 & MC402. Running some old JBL 4331’s with L100’s on top. I kind of have a thing for vintage JBL. Anyway, I bought a pair of 4345’s that I would like to bi-amp with the Mac driving the bass and tubes driving the mids and tweeter. Just trying to figure out a way to make that happen without a huge investment in case I don’t want to keep it that way. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. |
I have acually heard the Emotiva basx A-100 now renamed and redesigned a little and now called the A2M. It has 50 watts and the headphone amp you can change the jumpers and go into straight from the amp mode which i heard is good. I think for 300 dollars its hard to beat. Now i just need to find something under 300 tube pre amp to connect to it. I am thinking amazon cause if i dont like the sound or quality its a easy return. I really wanted the Yamaha WXA-50 which i heard is a kick but and amazing sounding desktop amp, but it has no headphone jack. |
I recently was thinking about a cheap tube amp. Caveat emptor. Design is a very loose term. One was wired as such that the tubes lit up but thats it. Not sure where the sound came from. As near as I can tell, there are a few good sounding ones Yakim and Cayin for example. But their prices are high as others. 1000 to 1500 range. Then lots of choices. I thought about trying one from Amazon. Some highly rated ones were basically mix and match parts.warranty service. What's that. |
from the sound of your post it almost seems as though you want to get into tubes for the sake of getting into tubes. Which is not really a good place to start. Better off to try and think what you really need and then see if there is a tubed option that fulfills your requirements. Probably not what you want to hear, but the best advice I can give. |
- 53 posts total