2. amps-preamps
  3. 1150219942

how would an entry-level tube system compare?

Hi all,

I'm looking for advice on the following situation as I move into the tube world for the first time.

My current non-audiophile, lo-fi system: an old Sony 100W receiver and JBL S36 monitor speakers. 75% of the music I listen to is driving and bass-heavy (techno, house, electronica, hip-hop, rock). On this system, the sound is OK, but I can crank it (I mean _really_ crank it), which I like to do, and the bass is there, which I need.

I'm now planning a move into the hi-fi world. Although my musical tastes would suggest solid-state and big watts, I'm very curious about tubes. For budget and space reasons, I'm looking at integrated tube amps in the <$1500 range (from Cary, Onix, Cayin, Rogue, Eastern Electric, Shanling, VTL, PrimaLuna, and others).

I'm sure any of these tubes systems will take the quality of sound of my music to a new level. My concern is whether they'll be able to match the power, drive, and volume, of my current lo-fi system. Can a <50W tube system shake the house?

As for speakers, I'm still evaluating, but had not necessarily committed to high sensitivity ones. Should that be a requirement?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.
defiantscientist
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Quality vs Quantity?
To get both, it will cost you an arm and a leg.
Keep you speaker efficiency above 90db. For every 3db above 90, your wattage will equal double:
So, 50 watts @ 90db will equal 100 watts on 93db speakers and 200 watts on 96db speakers, 400 watts on 99db speakers).
For every 10db increase, you will get a "perceived" doubling of volume.
So, it is very easy to find a 40 watt tube amp (many EL34 based amps) that will blow away your 100 watt Sony with the right speakers-and it will sound wayyyy better too.
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
If you can afford it use a bi-amp configuration, solid state amp for bass and tubes for mid and tweeters....should blow you away if you can afford it.
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
quality ss for your wide variety of music.
raquel
841 posts
 
Tube amps need high quality output transformers to have a chance of sounding right on low impedences speakers, and the sad fact is that good output transformers are very expensive.

Tube preamps and solid-state preamps tend to cost roughly the same for a given quality level, but because of the cost of output transformers in tube amps, not so with tube and solid-state amps (this would thus hold true for integrated amps).

In short, my experience and my advice is that if your speakers dip below 4 Ohms (most do these days), you are best off pairing a decent solid-state amp with a tube preamp. A lot of people buy them, but a tube amp on the cheap is just that.
yohjo
83 posts
 
Stick with ss for your taste in music.
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