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Need help on tubes.


BlessedPrince

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Hello,

I've been hearing a lot about tubes and how good they work with klipsch speakers. If something wouldn't mind explaining what is a tube amp and how does it work compared to an AV receiver(which I have now) powering my kg4's. I'm really interesting in knowing so I can buy something good and know how it works. I'm pretty clueless honestly. Can I use for home theater?

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I asked this question about a year ago before purchasing tubes myself.

 

1. Yes you can use tubes for HT, but it will be very expensive.

 

2. If you do use tubes for HT and use it several hours a day, you'll potentially shorten their life and have to spend more on them as you go.

 

3. The potential for them to "lack" and keep up with everything that a SS amp can with all the bass response and surround stuff makes them again, more of a potential money grabber.

 

4. You need to spend a boatload of money to find one that can give the output that a SS amp can (reference levels), and then multiply that cost times 3 as you'll need 3 amps if doing a 5.1 set up,

 

5.Tube amps tend to lack in bass, but enhance mids and highs, and some tube amps flat out state they are not good with certain types of music, now take that into the HT side where action movies are, and tubes may also lack there.

 

Now if you have thousands of dollars that you can use as passive income, you can find amps that will do the opposite of what I just typed.

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If something wouldn't mind explaining what is a tube amp and how does it work compared to an AV receiver

 

A tube amp is an amplifier that uses hollow state technology as the active device instead of solid state technology. Vacuum tubes are the precursor to transistors. My engineering side of me says there is no "tube sound" when designed correctly. You can have tube amps perform like transistor amps and transistor amps perform like tube amps, it just depends on the topology. Tube amps have got a bad rap as bass shy and high distortion. Your speakers only go down to 38Hz so they will most likely hold you back in the low end department. BUT you do HT so you probably have a sub anyway. Yes tube amps can be used for HT, it's just not easy to find an all in one tube home theater package. You will most likely want to run a digital processor putting out line level voltages for as many channels as necessary, then you would have separate tube power amps to power the speakers individually. 

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I asked this question about a year ago before purchasing tubes myself.

 

1. Yes you can use tubes for HT, but it will be very expensive.

 

2. If you do use tubes for HT and use it several hours a day, you'll potentially shorten their life and have to spend more on them as you go.

 

3. The potential for them to "lack" and keep up with everything that a SS amp can with all the bass response and surround stuff makes them again, more of a potential money grabber.

 

4. You need to spend a boatload of money to find one that can give the output that a SS amp can (reference levels), and then multiply that cost times 3 as you'll need 3 amps if doing a 5.1 set up,

 

5.Tube amps tend to lack in bass, but enhance mids and highs, and some tube amps flat out state they are not good with certain types of music, now take that into the HT side where action movies are, and tubes may also lack there.

 

Now if you have thousands of dollars that you can use as passive income, you can find amps that will do the opposite of what I just typed.

Sounds like I'm going to keep my AV receiver in the living room. Def don't have that much money lol. I'll definitely keep Learning as I go. When I feel comfortable the I'll consider buying one. Appreciate the input!

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If your AVR has pre-outs, you could still use a tube amp with it.

 

While you're getting comfortable with tubes, read the amp articles in here:

 

http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm

 

That should give you an overview of amplification, including tubes.  While that is a reputable source, you'll note the author has little good to say on single ended tubes, which is all true, I suppose, but they're still my favorite flavor of tube gear.

 

You'll discover that you don't have to spend a fortune on tube gear, despite the high prices out in audio consumer land.  I'm pretty sure that Maynard could cook up something for a few hundred that would put amps costing a few thousand to shame. 

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Is that enough power for them?

 

That all depends on you. Your speakers are 94db w/ 1 watt of power at 1 meter away. To gain 3db you need to double your power. So for 97db you need 2 watts, for 100db 4 watts, 103db 8 watts, 106db 16 watts, 109db 32 watts.

 

A jackhammer from 1 meter away is 100db to put things into perspective.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow nice description. I see things a lot clearer lol. Never thought of it like that. Appreciate it.

Is that enough power for them?

 

That all depends on you. Your speakers are 94db w/ 1 watt of power at 1 meter away. To gain 3db you need to double your power. So for 97db you need 2 watts, for 100db 4 watts, 103db 8 watts, 106db 16 watts, 109db 32 watts.

 

A jackhammer from 1 meter away is 100db to put things into perspective.

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I've noticed some people have tube amps it's 25wpc. Most speakers say about 100 rms. Is that enough power for them? I could buy a small tube for a 2 channel set up. While I get more familiar. If that's the case.

 

This is going to depend on the type of amp you are looking for, if a CLASS A SET it won't be that much in power, but an integrated will. If doing a 2 channel set up, you need to also determine on "critical listening", or just everyday or background listening. I am a newbie on tubes, but have both types and enjoy both types for what I'm in the mood for.

 

I would try the integrated with a little more pop in it, and as stated above, you can put it in the loop with your HT stuff,and switch with just music, or HT. I know I will not go back to SS for my 2 channel listening. Either way you can get into tubes for less than $500.00. I'd try out brands like Yaqin, Aiqin Audio, and a few other Chinese versions,unless someone on here can build you a nice custom CLASS A SET. Once into them, you can fine tune what type you like, and whether you want to go vintage or today's models. I started out with a small less than $200.00 Class A, and have that, an integrated, and a vintage integrated. My total cost for all 3 invested is $1,000.00. The wattage ratings on them are 8WPC, 25 WPC, and 42WPC. You can see the speakers I drive in my signature under my family room. All 3 amps power them with no issues at all.

Edited by Jim
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