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
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Ebuzz,
Congratulations and I believe that you'll be happy with the choice. What I like about jolida is it's reasonably price and has earned a reputation for being reliable and good sounding. What I also hear from experienced owners is it's very receptive to different tubes and simple modification like better coupling capacitors(something to consider at any future time).

If you like the sound of the stock Jolida that's a good start (the stock tubes are generic level quality). So room for significantly improved sound in an inexpensive but quite solid tube power amplifier. It's very possible that you may have been just as happy with the ARC amplifier, but given your stated sonic preference I would have made the same choice.
Charles,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Ebuzz,
You probably know this but I'll say it anyway. This brand new amplifier will require adequate burn in time (especially those transformers) so be patient and give it time to develop its full potential. If you like it right away that's good news as it will get better. Get familiar with the sound character of your stock tubes before tube rolling attempts ( you need a baseline for comparison sake). I think tonality, body and tactile presence will differ from what you're accustom to, let your ear/brain adjust .
unsound
7,333 posts
 
"...has earned a reputation for being reliable..."
I've no personal experience using Jolida, but the reputation that has passed before me has been quite a bit different.
ebuzz OP
104 posts
 
Thanks! I did, however, get the full compliments of upgrades that Walter at Underwood HiFi offered. Upgraded tubes, capacitors etc. I've very excited about the choice. I don't usually second guess myself, so I anticipate that I will be happy. I guess that between the ARC and this one it's like a BMW or Mercedes, they're both great and I'd be happy with either one.
I am aware of break in time but did have one question: if we're talking about 200 or so hours. Can u leave it on for that long a time at one stretch?
mikirob
955 posts
 
Ebuzz, generally speaking, I want a similar sound that you desire. Jolida should do that for you. A while back I owned, for my office, a little Jolida FX10 EL 84 integrated. At the time, for $425.00, it punched way beyond its price point and gave me the type of sound you mentioned above. At 10 watts yet. People didn't believe it until they heard it. Of course I had to roll some NOS tubes to get what I wanted. But Jolida was to me a surprisingly good product and company. Seriously, I'd rather listen to FX 10 than the ARC.

Charles1Dad, yes, I agree from what you write that we have similar tastes in how music should sound. I've owned a lot of stuff over the years and envy, it a good way, your Coincident system. When our house is finished I'm likely going to pull the trigger on Coincident. I tend also to agree with what Salvatore says concerning the Coincident 300B. I had the Golden Tube set-up Salvatore liked so much back in the day. I also sold a Golden Tube 300B non-mono. It was also pretty good. Best.
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