minermark Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) This is my current ManCave driver, reasonable and all the power in need. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-XDSE-YC-808MK-KT88B-Vacuum-Tube-Hi-end-Tube-Integrated-Amplifier-PUS-/261018868145?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3cc5efd9b1 This Amp comes with the "Switch" 70 watts x 2 in ultra-linear mode 40watts x 2 for triode mode When I flip the switch, I might as well call the cops myself, because they WILL be coming. Twice last year. The wife's units, 50 Watts is fine for her Chorus. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-MINI-YAYI-KT88-Mono-Block-Integrated-Power-Amplifier-PUS-/290708858585?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item43af9926d9 Edited February 22, 2014 by minermark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Joe and myself went down a similar road - it was expensive, exhausting, and fun! I lost all of my great gear too, but for different reasons. I remember every experience, every sound. I don't buy into the nonsensical idea that auditory memory is short, on the contrary, when you connect on more than one level, it sticks like glue. There is an amplifier or two that is the perfect amp for you. The problem is, you will probably sell them so you can experience other amplifiers. Pay attention, and take note of what you enjoy, you can always go back and buy it again You HAVE to know and trust what you know about how you listen. This will decide how much power you need, and whether you need a preamp or not. Once I adopted the purist approach and quit listening so loud, I felt that preamps, even very good ones, just added a veil, however thin, between me and the sound. I like Justin's EL-84 SEP amp, infinitely more than the 2A3 amps I heard. At any rate, you have to settle the power question first. The Ultralinear designs, especially the KT-88 variety, are very popular - most need, or feel they need the power, so they are pretty much the only game in town. I, and several others here, have either owned, or do own Craig's VRDs. There is switch, and they can be run in triode mode, which is how I ran mine. I actually didn't care much for standard setting. Craig thought (thinks) I was nuts. I owned many Ultralinear type amps, and though they all sounded good, they all shared the same thing in common: a somewhat dry and closed in quality, very much like good solid state, but without the low level grain and sometimes spitty quality. I would trade the higher power for 15 watts of Class A Triode any day of the week. As it is, I may very well find myself with a paltry 3 watts, I don't know if it's Class A or not, but it sure sounds like it. At the end of the day, I want the gear to get out of the way. 99% of the things I've heard over the course of a lifetime wasn't capable of doing that, and the 1% that was, was always the simpler, less complicated circuits - at least the part count was lower. I really believe less is more - it just sounds better. AMEN. I sold and repurchased a couple different amps (they impressed me that much) At the end of the day if I wanted to try a new amp I had to sell the existing One to afford it. I could go on and on about my feelings on the best system, However my system requirements are contrary to your initial post, I like Dean could care less about LOUD, My priority's were clarity, detail retrieval, soundstage, Imaging, and Balanced somewhat warmer sound. The amps i preferred were SET (single end triode) The best amp I owned sound wise was the Thor TPA 30, $11,000.00, It had detail retrieval and imagery in spades Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 This is my current ManCave driver, reasonable and all the power in need. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-XDSE-YC-808MK-KT88B-Vacuum-Tube-Hi-end-Tube-Integrated-Amplifier-PUS-/261018868145?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3cc5efd9b1 This Amp comes with the "Switch" 70 watts x 2 in ultra-linear mode 40watts x 2 for triode mode When I flip the switch, I might as well call the cops myself, because they WILL be coming. Twice last year. The wife's units, 50 Watts is fine for her Chorus. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-MINI-YAYI-KT88-Mono-Block-Integrated-Power-Amplifier-PUS-/290708858585?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item43af9926d9 What do you do for warranty, Say if the amp was damaged in transit from Hong Kong, at 160.00 shipping if you return it thats another 160.00 shipping That gets expensive very fast ?? Whats resale value on a used one ?? At 585.00 plus 160.00 on shipping you are pretty close to $$ for a pair of refurbished Dynaco, which have a pedigree that allows recoup of investment if you find you don't like tubes Not trying to pick on the Chinese stuff here, If you like it that's great. I'm just following the initial post in regards to his thought that he doesn't know if he will like tubes. and if he finds he doesn't then a priority should certainly be resale value Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 This is my current ManCave driver, reasonable and all the power in need. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-XDSE-YC-808MK-KT88B-Vacuum-Tube-Hi-end-Tube-Integrated-Amplifier-PUS-/261018868145?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3cc5efd9b1 This Amp comes with the "Switch" 70 watts x 2 in ultra-linear mode 40watts x 2 for triode mode When I flip the switch, I might as well call the cops myself, because they WILL be coming. Twice last year. The wife's units, 50 Watts is fine for her Chorus. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Music-Angel-MINI-YAYI-KT88-Mono-Block-Integrated-Power-Amplifier-PUS-/290708858585?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item43af9926d9 What do you do for warranty, Say if the amp was damaged in transit from Hong Kong, at 160.00 shipping if you return it thats another 160.00 shipping That gets expensive very fast ?? Whats resale value on a used one ?? At 585.00 plus 160.00 on shipping you are pretty close to $$ for a pair of refurbished Dynaco, which have a pedigree that allows recoup of investment if you find you don't like tubes Not trying to pick on the Chinese stuff here, If you like it that's great. I'm just following the initial post in regards to his thought that he doesn't know if he will like tubes. and if he finds he doesn't then a priority should certainly be resale value The way these are packed, damage was not on my mind. The wife's mono blocks set up and played perfectly. My amp came perfectly packed also, however upon running it for a few hours I noticed the right channel a little weak, contacted primeamp and we arranged a tube swap, I paid for shipping to him he paid for shipping to me, ALL tubes, $30 bucks. Pretty nice Class A guys to work with. And on the "Resale" issue, iv never bought anything worrying about what I can get for it when im done with it, I usually turn someone on to a really good deal that is getting into the hobby, to date, never had one complaint from any friend , most are running better systems than me by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 For what its worth I would maintain that buy it Made in the USA. There are some great builders here and a couple are forum members. They are highly motivated to make you happy and their quality is fine. Also, don't think that you won't want to swap, upgrade or change for the fun of it. As my wife put it, its cheaper than a exotic sports car and better than a mistress. So no guilt here. All pleasure. Enjoy, 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 (edited) It's been a long time, but what is "directly heated triode" - I suppose I could Google it. That John Curl .PDF is a beast, but it's a great read. His comments on capacitors are definitely helpful to me, more so for my mental health. It gets old being treated like you're imagining this stuff. The DC biasing experiment has been a blast - how can that possibly work If there isn't any truth to the zero-crossing/DA issue? Edited February 22, 2014 by DeanG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Class A listening in China is a big deal, so much so their store fronts out numbers ours three to one. http://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Actually the Chinese and Russian are pretty good at making tube gear. When the transitor age came in, most developed countries abandon tubes. China and Russia kept tubes in some of their military equipment in case of a nuclear war, their equipment would still function and not be knocked out by the EM pluse. Some of the gear from China can be purchased from a dealer in Canada. This way warranty issues are not a problem and shipping is cheaper. For me, I did not know if I would like tube gear and did not care to spend a lot of money. I am confident that I can resale the amp for slightly more than I paid for it. The Music Angel and Yaqin amps are beautiful and to my ears, excellent SQ. I am easy to please. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Wouldn't it be nice if we supported our friends and neighbors and bought American made products whenever possible? Maybe our economy would improve and unemployment would go down. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minermark Posted February 22, 2014 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Actually the Chinese and Russian are pretty good at making tube gear. When the transitor age came in, most developed countries abandon tubes. China and Russia kept tubes in some of their military equipment in case of a nuclear war, their equipment would still function and not be knocked out by the EM pluse. Some of the gear from China can be purchased from a dealer in Canada. This way warranty issues are not a problem and shipping is cheaper. For me, I did not know if I would like tube gear and did not care to spend a lot of money. I am confident that I can resale the amp for slightly more than I paid for it. The Music Angel and Yaqin amps are beautiful and to my ears, excellent SQ. I am easy to please. Yes, quite simply that is all I was saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Well after much thought I have decided to sell my Parasound HCA-1500 to help finance the tube purchase, or maybe another brand SS to try out, depending on what I find. I will get some pictures and list on here as soon as I can which may be a couple of days. There is still much to learn about the tube amps and I will keep looking for one that looks like it will fit the bill, but will also continue looking for maybe a B&K or another SS that sounds "tube like"!! Thanks to everyone for the great input, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckAb3 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Your last post says a lot. If I had any reluctance to get into tubes, or nagging feeling that there was a SS unit I might like as well or better, a listening test (A-B test if possible) would be in order. I was ready to pull the trigger on a Vincent hybrid amp, or so I thought. I took an old pair of Heresy's to the dealer so I could hear the amp on a horn loaded speaker and get some idea what it would sound like on my Cornwalls. Sounded really good, but somewhat muted in tweeter range. Then I compared it to Parasound SS separates. No muting on the high end, good mids and good bass. It was a fairly close call, but I wound up buying the Parasounds. Same old story others are pointing out - this is really subjective and your ears are the only ones that matter. Best of luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Your last post says a lot. If I had any reluctance to get into tubes, or nagging feeling that there was a SS unit I might like as well or better, a listening test (A-B test if possible) would be in order. I was ready to pull the trigger on a Vincent hybrid amp, or so I thought. I took an old pair of Heresy's to the dealer so I could hear the amp on a horn loaded speaker and get some idea what it would sound like on my Cornwalls. Sounded really good, but somewhat muted in tweeter range. Then I compared it to Parasound SS separates. No muting on the high end, good mids and good bass. It was a fairly close call, but I wound up buying the Parasounds. Same old story others are pointing out - this is really subjective and your ears are the only ones that matter. Best of luck!! I hear ya, I was amazed at the sound of the parasounds, I think the highs where crystal clear and less grainy so to speak off my yamaha but on the other hand the yamaha was way to bright and overpowering the woofers no matter where I set the treble or subwoofer. In the back of my mind I was thinking of a B&K to try as I have read they are real warm and smooth. Time will tell!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Actually the Chinese and Russian are pretty good at making tube gear. When the transitor age came in, most developed countries abandon tubes. China and Russia kept tubes in some of their military equipment in case of a nuclear war, their equipment would still function and not be knocked out by the EM pluse. Some of the gear from China can be purchased from a dealer in Canada. This way warranty issues are not a problem and shipping is cheaper. For me, I did not know if I would like tube gear and did not care to spend a lot of money. I am confident that I can resale the amp for slightly more than I paid for it. The Music Angel and Yaqin amps are beautiful and to my ears, excellent SQ. I am easy to please. Yes, quite simply that is all I was saying. My first tube amp predates my Klipsch Cornwalls and now Belles and was Grant Fidelity's inexpensive KT88/EL34 integrated. I subsequently replaced the Grant Fidelity integrated with Opera Consonance 211/222 Monoblocks which put out around 18 WPC. Since then, I've added a couple of Japanese Amps and really like the combination of my 2 WPC 45 SET Amp (Yamamoto A-08S) and the Belles. With efficient Klipsch speakers I certainly don't need more than 2 WPC unless I'm listening to classic rock. You can find Grant Fidelity here which will give you the brands they carry, specs and prices: http://grantfidelity.com/site/ If I was just getting into tubes today I would not change the route I followed before. Wb Edited February 26, 2014 by Wolfbane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 I figured you would enjoy the JC writings. He has really been around and has so many interesting insights. You have to have confidence in what you hear Dean. I wouldn't (and never have) worried about the people who don't hear the same things. There's plenty of stuff built for them to choose from. That whole "snake oil" diatribe is pure folly. Don't let that determine what you do. A truer statement has never been spoken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Your last post says a lot. If I had any reluctance to get into tubes, or nagging feeling that there was a SS unit I might like as well or better, a listening test (A-B test if possible) would be in order. I was ready to pull the trigger on a Vincent hybrid amp, or so I thought. I took an old pair of Heresy's to the dealer so I could hear the amp on a horn loaded speaker and get some idea what it would sound like on my Cornwalls. Sounded really good, but somewhat muted in tweeter range. Then I compared it to Parasound SS separates. No muting on the high end, good mids and good bass. It was a fairly close call, but I wound up buying the Parasounds. Same old story others are pointing out - this is really subjective and your ears are the only ones that matter. Best of luck!! I hear ya, I was amazed at the sound of the parasounds, I think the highs where crystal clear and less grainy so to speak off my yamaha but on the other hand the yamaha was way to bright and overpowering the woofers no matter where I set the treble or subwoofer. In the back of my mind I was thinking of a B&K to try as I have read they are real warm and smooth. Time will tell!! Go to garage sale there is a parasound amp and preamp for sale there 200.00 for the pair, and it is one of the amps that has been compared to tubes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Notice that no one ever says, "Buy that brand x tube amp, it sounds as good as solid state." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracurrie Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Notice that no one ever says, "Buy that brand x tube amp, it sounds as good as solid state."It's usually the other way around. Damping factor seems to be one difference. SS generally have more for better bass. I think. Edited February 26, 2014 by bracurrie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franticsled Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Notice that no one ever says, "Buy that brand x tube amp, it sounds as good as solid state." Funny how that works!! I have been eye balling this but still seem to be scared to try one....seems every time I buy something I always end up wanting the bigger heavier one.....guess thats just the way I am wired http://www.ebay.com/itm/YAQIN-MC-10L-Vacuum-Tube-Integrated-Amplifier-Hi-End-/251461196592?pt=US_Home_Audio_Amplifiers_Preamps&hash=item3a8c415b30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joessportster Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Notice that no one ever says, "Buy that brand x tube amp, it sounds as good as solid state." What insight !!!!!!! Absolutely true. You should copy right that, best advertising slogan Iv'e heard explaining the sound of tube vs ss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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