Can tubes ever be as quiet Solid State

06-11-08: Macrojack
"Rowland Capri SS preamp into Audio Mirror tubed power amps into Zu speakers turned up to 95 on the preamp scale causes a barely audible hiss with my ear about 2 inches away from the tweeter."

I've got the Rowland Continuum 500 SS integrated amp, where both the pre-amp (same circuit as the Carpir)and amplifier section (same as the Rowland 501s) both operate in DC. (Power Factor Correction converts any AC to 385V DC). I'm impressed that your tube amp gets so very close in terms of quietness. That's excellent. I hear about the same on my all-SS integrated.

BTW, I generally listen at a setting between 50 (when it's very quiet and I'm reading with music in the background) to 80-ish (when I'm trying to blow myself out of the listening seat with Mahler's 6th). At any of these levels I can't hear anything out of my tweeter.

Dave

After all these years I've come to a love/hate relationship with tubes. My tubes now reside in the output stages of my front end gear, DAC and tuner. I gave up on the tube phono stages.

I still own a tube amplifier that gets use from time to time or more accurately less and less more out of it's inconvenience than anything else (it must be turned on and off). Pathetic, no?

Vic

Not so pathetic, Vic. I find myself factoring convenience into my planning more and more as I get older. I think it is a natural shift in priorities.

I bought the tube amps I have because they are self-biasing and the tubes are supposed to last for years. If there's much hassle, it isn't worth it.

Shardorne, you are completely incorrect to state that tubed pres cannot match solid-state for quietness. S/N ratio is a VERY simple and straightforward measurement and there are many top tubed pres that beat all but the most expensive SS designs, and some of them trounce them all.

My Shindo Monbrison's S/N is better than 120 dB. The previously mentioned ModWright 36.5 is better than 130.

I would like to see a list of solid-state linestages with S/N higher than 130 dB.

you are completely incorrect to state that tubed pres cannot match solid-state for quietness.

Paul,

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that designers simply cannot work around these issues.

Let me rephrase: I guess anyone who has any experience in tubes as a component for use in amplification circuits will realize that there are in general (in the very broadest genralization sense) more noise issues (such as microphonics for example) than you get with solid state.

I reiterate what I stated above as proof that I agree with you: "I don't think it is a big issue - Manley make great tube amps that are extremely quiet - so do others."