2. amps-preamps
  3. 1334466827

Could use your advice re: tube gear

I posted a long discussion of my MC240 and 8B which came out of storage a couple weeks ago. After listening to them with several speakers in our little local shop, and in comparison to an Anthem 700 MRX SS integrated ($2K) driving the speakers I'm thinking about, I'm missing the highs I thought I was getting. Quite a bit. And on big speakers the bass is loose and very undefined. Both tube amps (with my CJ PV-5) had vastly better midrange though.

What would be a move to keep the mids of my gear but get the defined bass and airy open highs?

Get a SS amp (like the DNA-1)? But would the CJ kill the tight lows and open highs? Could I mod the CJ?

Can I find a (~$1K used) tube amp that has the lush mids but tight lows and open detailed highs? The Quicksilver GLA maybe?

Trying to solve it with speakers, I could probably find a speaker with much tighter bottom (B&W CM-1 maybe) but that would not solve the highs. I have some Superzeros with spiky highs that help but don't replace the missing air and space.

Your thought would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
river251
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Hm...maybe I asked a dumb question? or too many? Or probably folks figure the answer is already out there, understandably. Must be one of the most asked questions.

I've been reading threads for a couple days, but it's not clear to me if I can get by with a tube amp. How tight is tight, how open is open? I'm not able to try this gear in my region. But maybe the CJ PV-5 is a limiting factor too (though I now know CJ and Rhb Dezign can upgrade it), in which case no amp will give me the open highs I want with the PV-5.

Right now these amps are for sale in the $800-$1000 range at various places on the internet:
CJ MV-55
Audio Research D76
Quicksilver GLA

McCormack DNA-1
Mark Levinson ML-9

If the latter two SS amps are 10s on a 0-10 scale for bass tightness and open highs, and my MC240 and 8B are 10s on an 0-10 scale for midrange liquidity, can any of the three tube amps above get me a 7 on bass and highs, and a 7 on tube liquidity?

Thanks much.
wolf_garcia
6,696 posts
 
I just bought a new Jolida JD502P power amp, had it "factory upgraded/modded", and stuck a quartet of new matched KT120s in it. All for close to your price point. It sounds wonderful, bass is tight, mids warm, and treble accurate and sweet.
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Wolf, thanks very much. What a nice amp. I didn't know one could get so much new for that kind of money. Thank you.
Jim
josefm
53 posts
 
You could be needing to tube roll a little to get the sound you need...maybe list the current tubes in the amp(s), and then you may get some advice.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,807 posts
 
If your amps were in storage, its likely they are not working up to snuff. The Marantz was a nice amp but unless its been rebuilt/serviced recently I would not expect it to sound right- in fact I would be nervous about plugging it into the wall!

A new set of filter capacitors for the power supply and you may think very differently about this amp!
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