mrquery Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Hi there, I am new here and have ask the forum to suggest tube amplifier with budget of $500 (I know ). Here's my first post https://community.klipsch.com/index.php?/topic/162294-help-tempted-by-ebay/ So far, I have had an experience on chinese SET tube amp. While it did WOW me for a while, I've outgrown it hearing that it is lacking midbass / voice say 100 to 500 degrees hz compared to my marantz vintage amp. Here is the link of my marantz playing Ayako Hosokawa where ALL things audio will be judge.. haha https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-w8Bum4iY I am actually looking for decent power integrated amp (I got no problem with 14watts tube amp before). Audibly / Sonically I am after LUSH (sweet a bit rolled off on top or rounded top), got that a MIDBASS BLOOM, and is WET (romantic, don't know how to further explain). OK so my listening room is about 5x5 meters, I am fond of listening from vocal / standard jazz (fav: frank sinatra / ayako hosokawa) to heavy metal (fav: black sabbath). The best thing that describe what I am looking for so far is this, quoted: Lush and wetness, huh? I could go so many directions with that one.... (like a gal I dated back in the late 80's ) Edited February 24, 2016 by mrquery 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 A directly heated 2A3 or 300B triode amplifier will give you lush sound with midbass bloom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 A directly heated 2A3 or 300B triode amplifier will give you lush sound with midbass bloom. Yikes, is there one with in my budget? Can you be so kind to name some brands model to check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 A directly heated 2A3 or 300B triode amplifier will give you lush sound with midbass bloom. Yikes, is there one with in my budget? Can you be so kind to name some brands model to check? Sorry for my initial expression, I am actually thrilled on that comment but afraid that is beyond my budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) Others love their DHT amps and are willing to pay the price OK, I was right that those 300B and 2a3 cost alot. Do you know of a clone version of this amps? Other suggestion on the used market maybe? Edited February 24, 2016 by mrquery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 24, 2016 Author Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) A directly heated 2A3 or 300B triode amplifier will give you lush sound with midbass bloom. Just to ask, aren't those 300B (and maybe 2a3) a one trick poney? I heard of consonance 300B amplifier years ago and from memory the guy uses SUB WOOFER for the bottom end (he got tiny bookshelf). I read that 300B is particularly good for vocals (not sure)? I did go to bigger KG4 from my clifton bookshelf cause the sub woofer integration just kills the music. Edited February 24, 2016 by mrquery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 (edited) A directly heated 2A3 or 300B triode amplifier will give you lush sound with midbass bloom. Yikes, is there one with in my budget? Can you be so kind to name some brands model to check? Sorry, not even close to your budget. A pair of used Western Electric 300B tubes, supposedly the best sounding of all tubes, recently sold on Ebay for like $3250.00. A decent pair of 300B's can be your whole budget easily. I have thought about building a 300B amp but the price of these tubes and being DHT just turns me off and from all the research I have done on the web almost a good a sound can be had for considerable less. Others love their DHT amps and are willing to pay the price. The bestr ones get close to 6 figures. William is right. I didn't notice the 500 dollar budget. OTOH William, only rich Japanese folks are gonna buy original WE tubes. There is cheaper alternatives of 300B out there. 300B has that lush sound, but then again even the cheaper versions are spendy, and not to mention they are heated by 5 volts. 5 volts AC heating is a lot of noise to beat down, though it can be done. 2A3 and 45 tubes are heated by 2.5 volts, and can be wired for direct heating with minimal noise. 2A3 and 45 tubes can still be found used for reasonable prices, and there is new production as well, ranging from sorta spendy, to ridiculous. I think if a DIY type of guy took his time, scrounging parts bit by bit and paying most attention to the quality of output transformers, he probably get into a good Hi-Fi quality sounding 2A3 or 45 amplifier for around a $1000. Maybe a few hundred more... Maybe not... Tube Fanatic, (Maynard, the guy who started this forum) might be a guy to give a PM with what you have in mind for a amplifier. He may be able to build a amplifier within your budget, that will emulate the sound you want. You'll never "clone" a 300B... Edited February 24, 2016 by mike stehr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Just to ask, aren't those 300B (and maybe 2a3) a one trick poney? What do you mean by that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted February 24, 2016 Share Posted February 24, 2016 Cris, SETs can certainly provide what you want with most of the music you listen to. However, with heavy metal I'm not sure you will enjoy having the sound being "lush." For that, a SEP would be better suited since it will be more punchy and brighter. The big question is where you are sitting in relation to the speakers when listening, and how loudly you listen. The latter 2 factors will determine how much power you will need. Also, how far into the room is it feasible for you to pull the speakers? One last point, since you have KG4s, is to get hold of forum member "Jim." He has KG4.2s and can give you some good first hand advice on how they work with only 4.5 wpc from a dual-mono SEP.Maynard 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToolShedAmps Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Rock music through a SEP. RobZombie.MOV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twistedcrankcammer Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Rock music through a SEP. RobZombie.MOV TEASE! How about the full thing?? Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tube fanatic Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Where are you located Cris? It's possible that there are forum members nearby who have tube equipment which they can bring over for an audition in your system-- Maynard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Cris, Sent response to the other page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Rock music through a SEP. nice, I specially like the toe tapping / swinging you got there 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Where are you located Cris? It's possible that there are forum members nearby who have tube equipment which they can bring over for an audition in your system-- Maynard That will be the best. I am from Lombard, IL and appreciate if there's anybody body near me to let me check how their tube amp sounds like. P.S. I am the one who always crank up his marantz at unit 08, ssshh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrquery Posted February 26, 2016 Author Share Posted February 26, 2016 Cris, Sent response to the other page. Saw that.. I am monitoring this thread for tube related comments. I guess the other page most chime in mostly on speaker placement / upgrade and toe in stuff. Also I read that you are using BL-02 Class A SET (mine was gemtune brand). I let my amp go not only because I hear it ring a couple of times but also because it looses 100 - 500hz on the singers voice. I was really fantastic but I prefer to to hear that 100hz - 500hz (bass bloom) I heard from my vintage marantz (perfect but lacking that tube euphonic touch). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToolShedAmps Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Where can I audition the SEP? Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk Where are you located Cris? It's possible that there are forum members nearby who have tube equipment which they can bring over for an audition in your system-- Maynard That will be the best. I am from Lombard, IL and appreciate if there's anybody body near me to let me check how their tube amp sounds like. P.S. I am the one who always crank up his marantz at unit 08, ssshh... Ohh.....Lombard....my son and I just drove down to Willowbrook yesterday to pick up a minty pair of Quartets. Wish I had known, I could've dropped off something for you to hear.... TS Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Matt, For some reason I thought of you as being in your mid 20's or something. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 26, 2016 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Cris, It could have been the tubes then, maybe not.It might have been that they are wired for both ultralinear and triode mode at the same time and need to be wired one way for better performance. I did mine in triode mode only.It not only opened up, but the sound quality tightened up and was cleaner throughout.I also switched out the original tubes for better tubes. But I also had posted on here a little while back how I had my amp re-wired and upgraded with caps. There are several builders on here that could help with that, and if you look at Matts page and amps,they are a work of art. I haven't heard one but there are a few on here who have them. Also, Maynard's amps are a very nice sounding amp as he splits the power and channels. I'd see if any of the builders on here have a return or something they are toying with to see if you can get a one off from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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