2. amps-preamps
  3. 1195181577

Moving away from tubes. Is this a good idea?

I need a new amp for my Totem Sttafs and REALLY considered tubes. My final thought is that if you don't have a certain pile of money you are only kissing your sister. Have you ever seen my sister? Besides there is a Devel's Tower of a learning curve for me to climb around tubes and I'm really anxious to just sit down and listen without any anxiety (if you know what I mean).

I have an opportunity to pick up a JungSon JA 88-D class A integrated amp. Just one piece of electronics to move onto the rack (but what a BIG piece:-)

I have a relatively med/small room (16'x17'x8'). The speakers are rated 8hm, 88dB, and 100 W max. program.

The amp is rated at 80 wpc, class A, RMS 8ohms.

From what I read the JungSon is about as close to a tube sound via ss as I can get without breaking into the kids xmas fund. I just want a rich full room of acoustical/vocal/instrumental music.

Could you give me your opinion if you think the Sttafs will be underpowered or unmatched.

Thanks.
djh
saki70
907 posts
 
As mentioned above , try tubes they are better in my opinion !

If you don't want the hassle , just get a self/auto biasing
integrated . The Primaluna would be a nice place to start .
Be careful with the Cayin . I had one that was purported to be auto biasing , the A-88T, it is NOT !

Good luck .
jig
160 posts
 
I have a Jungon JA-88D in my second system. My room is very similiar in size to yours. Since purchasing this integrated, my modded Sonic Frontiers Line One (tube preamp) and Golden Tube Se-40 (80wpc tube monoblocks) have been getting dusty and garnering little attention. I also tried several solid state amps including Luxman and this unit was significantly better than all. I am basically a tube guy, but this integrated gives you a very musical sound somewhere between the two camps. Also, this unit will impress all of your non audiophile friends and they will ask you if it is a Mcintosh.
I also agree with Aball that a decent sub would probably do more for you in the near term than a component switch.
pauly
1,012 posts
 
Hi Djh. I have generally found on this forum that the term “tube sound” really refers to the exaggerated harmonic distortion produced by a tube amp and speaker mismatch. So be careful what you wish for.

If you are looking for a natural, life like sound I would recommend you look at one of the Pass Lab offerings. As I am unfamiliar with the characteristics of your sttaffs, I am reluctant to advise a tube amplifier. From the specs, I believe you could be safe with almost any 35 plus wpc push pull tube amplifier.

I suggest while you are testing the waters, buy on the used market so you can recover you funds if you need to change direction a little later on.

Good luck
Paul
vman71
218 posts
 
I'm going to second Lak's recommendation of Plinius to get that tube-like sound. I owned a Plinius 8100 and loved the warm, smooth sound.
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