2. amps-preamps
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To Tube or not to Tube......

For quite some time now I've been thinking about switching from a solid state to a tube power amp. My Threshold T-100 has been real good to me and I do like it, but it's really the only "high-end" amp I've ever owned, so it's all I know. I'm intrigued by the "warm" sound of tubes and do have a tubed phono amp and CD player, but I am by no means well-versed in the sound of tube power amps having never really auditioned one. I know that goes against the prevailing wisdom and I should listen before I buy, but I don't think I will have the luxury of doing that.

That being said, I've gone through about 20 pages of this forum reading about the benefits and detriments of tubed power amps but nothing I've read has swayed me either way. The posts I've read have been informative re: bias issues, reliability, blowing fuses or whatever else might blow up or go wrong with the tubs, etc. So, if I were to go the tube route, I would not want deal with too much of that hassle. At lease I know that the amp I have doesn't have any such issues. That's why I was leaning toward amps like BAT with their auto biasing (I also need balanced inputs), and would want at least 60-100 wpc. I would be willing to deal with adjusting bias so long as it was a relatively simple process.

I figured I would pose my main question to the exerts here (and this I did learn for this forum): given what I already have in my system, what tube amp would be a good match for me? My pre-amp is a SS Threshold, JM Lab speakers with a "minimum impedance of 4 Ohms," EAR 834P phono stage, & Unison tube cd player.
Much appreciated.
ebuzz
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hi Ebuzz

One thing I forgot to mention is one thing you can do to handle the different but not necessarily better is tube roll. Warning this can be a very slippery slope. Really spend time listening to your Jolida as is a lot first before making tube changes. I was pretty excited when I got my 502P. I made notes of what people used in their Jolidas as well as read other tube reviews. In anticipation of tube rolling I purchased all sorts of preamp and power tubes and listed the combinations I was going to try. After awhile I was just swapping out tubes frequently. I have a large sized USPS box full of power and preamp tubes just for the Jolida now. I should have followed Wolf's path and kept things simple with the Tung Sol KT-120 power tubes, EH 12AT7s and just change out the 12AX7s.

Anyway enjoy and have fun. How are you going to A/B the Threshold T-100 vs the Jolida 1000P?
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
Thanks Jedi, I'll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do the A/B comparisons, I sold my T-100 and will pack it up and ship it off this week. It's sort of a leap of faith thing at this point.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
I wouldn't pick up tube amp for speakers that sound BEST with solid state amplification.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
Czar, are you saying my JM Labs sound BEST with SS amplification?
wolf_garcia
6,724 posts
 
Note: I did get those Mullard CV4024s to replace the EC 12AT7s. The 1000p shound give you years of finger burning tube rolling and tons of delightful tube glow.
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