GaryA Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 I just purchased a Scott 299B tube amp to refurbish to go with my recently purchased LaScala's. I was wondering if my old solid state Yamaha tuner (approx 20 yrs old) would be fine or is it better to have a tube tuner? It does'nt seem like it would make much difference but I thought I could get some input. I also noticed some folks use a sub with these amps and I'd like to have that option but don't know how you would hook up such a system. Thanks, Gary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundog Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 To some degree, these choices are a matter of personal taste, so there is, of course, different opinions. I rarely listen to FM except on my car radio. I have an Outlaw 1050 receiver and, as with many solid state receivers the tuner section is not its strong point. (Something to do with the difficulty of combining a tuner with a solid state amp on the same chasis, I beleive). I have tried it and it seemed fine to me, although I just use it for background music and then rarely. On a lark I picked up an old mono EICO tuner that I had as a kid as well as an old EICO HF-81 integrated, but have not had the time to play with them as yet. In most cases it is necesssary to upgrade capacitors, tubes, etc to make them work right but many claim this is well worth the effort. Many have found (especially horn enthusiasts) that tubes produce a more musical, less artificial sound than digital solid state. I use a tube preamp run through the solid state amplifier stage of my 1050 with excellent results. Some of us have found that tubes in the source stages of the chain produce a better sound but that solid state in the latter stages packs more of a whalop especially with bass, which addresses your sub question. Many commercial (vs public) radio station employ compression which many feel compromises sound quality so some beleive a mono tube tuner playing a public radio station or any radio station not employing compression processing produces the best sound. I'm sure others with more knowledge on this then me will chime in with additionl details and comments. Good question. ------------------ Soundog's HT Systems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 If the Yamaha works well for you now, I think you will be OK. However, although I eschew tubes for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is convenience, IMHO I have to say that a decently maintained vintage tube tuner will run rings most solid state ones in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, etc. It may, or may not, sound better to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 Hi Gary !! This is Craig from the HH Scott forum. Looks like we travel in similar circles LOL !!!! How could you even consider anything but a matching Scott Tuner ?? LOL !!!! They really do work nice. Of coarse you will end up with another unit to give a tune up too (pun intended). I have a LT-110B that works pretty good. All I did was retube it. I think I'm going to have to recap it also its still not perfect. I also have a HH Scott early 70's SS reciever that I use that really does a bang up job as a tuner using its tape outs. Really there are tons of good tuners out there. FM these day's sucks as a source anyway so I wouldn't get to bogged down with it. Craig ------------------ HH Scott 299 Amp HH Scott LT-110B Tuner HH Scott P-87 Turn Table Grado cartridge Sony CDP315 CD Drive 1985 Walnut Heresey I KSW-15 Subs>c> This message has been edited by NOS440 on 04-07-2002 at 10:38 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted April 7, 2002 Share Posted April 7, 2002 Gary, I didn't catch that you asked about Subs and your amp. Its easy to run a sub use your center channel out it is unamplified mono signal. I use a Sub with both my systems. It works perfect and raises and lowers by your 299s volume control. Plug it into the Low input on the sub set the sub to cut off just above what your lascala drop off at and than turn the volume on the sub while your at your most frequently used listening level to where you just hear the sub don't turn it up to loud it ruins the sound all together. Good Luck Craig ------------------ HH Scott 299 Amp HH Scott LT-110B Tuner HH Scott P-87 Turn Table Grado cartridge Sony CDP315 CD Drive 1985 Walnut Heresey I KSW-15 Subs>c> This message has been edited by NOS440 on 04-07-2002 at 10:39 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisK Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 I have been sort of bitten by the vintage tuner bug. I have picked up 4 different models at swap meets, garage sales, etc. I have a 1968 Sony 5000F, 1974(?) Accuphase T-101, 1969(?) Sony 5130, and a Kenwood 2002. The first 3 have been serviced by a well known vintage electronics technician (Mike Zuccaro). All of them sound very good. With Accuphase and the Sony 5000F doing the best job. I have even tested the Sony and Accuphase along side a couple of my friends tuners (McIntosh MR78, Magnum Dynalab Etude). All of us agreed they were at least as good sound wise (maybe even a little better), and definitely better in reception and quietness. If you do the math, you will see that 60's and 70's vintage equipment would go for many thousands of dollars today. And still probably not have the same build quality. You can find some great info on tuners at: http://geocities.com/tunerinfo/#mcintosh Regards, Chris ------------------ 2 channel Klipsch Cornwalls (1978) Cary CAD 300SEI amp (WE 300B's, various NOS 6SN7's) Arcam Alpha MCD cd player Accuphase T-101 Tuner HT Klipsch KG2.5 (front & rear) Klipsch KV2 (center) Klipsch SW12 (sub) Marantz SR7000 receiver Toshiba DTS DVD JVC SVHS VCR Sony Hi8 VCR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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