Tube Amp for newbie

[Shiva]

Ha, the wife did it.  His faculties seem intact to me.  Besides, the absent minded professor bit , does not need to mean a lessening of intelligence.  Einstein rarely ever remembered to comb his hair, or made sure his socks matched, so I've heard told.

  On another note, are you looking for an integrated amp or a power amp. 

[sixsigma]

I picked up a Yaqin MS-30L and love it. Sounds incredible and overall good build quality. Looks like there are still some available. It operates in either ultralinear or triode modes, depending on your preference. Comes standard with Shuguang EL-34B power tubes, which are pretty good. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/YAQIN-MS-30L-EL34-Push-Pull-Tube-STERE-Integrated-Amplifier-2016-New-Circuit-U-/261465597622

[juniper]

What Maynard said!

[Emile]

39 minutes ago, shiva said:

rarely ever remembered ... to ... make sure his socks matched

Nah ... no socks ... live in Florida.

Most prob looking for an integrated amp with several inputs (and phone), as well as tone controls (never use these, but don't think I want to do without them either. 

Used to be SO SIMPLE in the SS days ... figure out how much you want to spend and just buy a good brand.   Even when I started with vintage stuff ... just buy a good Marantz with enough power. Onto "tubes" ... lots and lots to learn.

Cheers, Emile

[Ceptorman]

But that's the fun part, searching for something new, and something you might not be familiar with.

[Emile]

10 minutes ago, Ceptorman said:

But that's the fun part, searching for something new, and something you might not be familiar with.

Yeah; worked on my Doctorate in AstroPhysics ... tube amps are much harder  

Cheers, Emile

[edmjm]

I would suggest an intergrated without a built in phono stage. the yaquin phono stage with vintage telefunken or siemens tubes is way better than  any phono stage you’ll get built into any amp under $5000.

to pair nicely with your speakers I’d recommend NOT going with set amp. tube amps don’t need tone controls, that’s what changing tubes does. do try to find one that can switch between triode & ultralinear. 

many nice amps get you started without breaking the bank. examples to look at grant fidelity, jolida, yaqin, musical paradise, other guys in the tubes section could likely suggest a few more too

[derrickdj1]

Another vote for a Yaquin.  I have the MC 13S  and could not be happier.  Very user friendly for newbies and sounds incredible.

[svberger]

A lot of nice stuff in these ads. Not cheap, but if the restoration is good not bad either. Worth a look.

 

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ele/d/stereo-equipment-vintage/6353484703.html

 

https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/ele/d/dynaco-stereo-70-and-dyna-pas/6351418652.html

 

I see a Harman Kardon Citation II for sale in your area on CL also, but it's $2500. It is easily one of the greatest amps ever, rivaling anything by Mac or Marantz. 

 

And then there's this, which looks very interesting. Again, worth a look 

https://tampa.craigslist.org/hil/ele/d/audiophile-stereo-tube-amp/6339257368.html

[Emile]

17 hours ago, svberger said:

A lot of nice stuff in these ads

Thanks! Yes, had seen these ads before .... hesitant on the "homebuild" one since the seller had no clue about it except for the "write-up."  One ad is "gone," Dynaco is still there and emailing him now. Thanks!

Cheers, Emile

[Emile]

Many, many thanks for all the valuable replies. Decided to get a Bob Latino ST-70, WITH the cap upgrades and stepped attenuater. Also getting the FAT 6550 tubes as they look "sexy." See  http://www.tubes4hifi.com/bob.htm#ST70 . Check is in the mail.  

 

Had bought a Pilot 230 tube amp (23W/ch) a couple of months ago - just to "try" tubes. See http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Pilot_HiFi_Line_1962_Catalog.pdf and https://www.ebay.com/itm/112376329144?rmvSB=true (yes; idiot lists it as 200W) for some info. Paid $350, but will list in the Garage Sale section next week for say $250. Pretty good condition. Anyone interested let me know.

 

Thanks and Cheers, Emile

[richieb]

On November 20, 2017 at 9:44 PM, edmjm said:

I would suggest an intergrated without a built in phono stage. the yaquin phono stage with vintage telefunken or siemens tubes is way better than  any phono stage you’ll get built into any amp under $5000.

to pair nicely with your speakers I’d recommend NOT going with set amp. tube amps don’t need tone controls, that’s what changing tubes does. do try to find one that can switch between triode & ultralinear. 

many nice amps get you started without breaking the bank. examples to look at grant fidelity, jolida, yaqin, musical paradise, other guys in the tubes section could likely suggest a few more too

 

Recommending against single ended amps for use with some of the finest speakers optimized for single ended is beyond me but to each  his own. And to make or accept this judgement without first listening to single ended is again beyond me. And I continue with my opinion that UL and PP tube designs offer no sonic advantage to quality SS amps.Like myself everyone has their views on amplifier choices but to make sweeping recommendations to those that have little experience is foolhardy. 

[edmjm]

I’m sorry for not going further in depth with my last post.

by no means was I trying to imply that set amps are in any way inferior to ul or pp. I have a couple of friends in our audio club with set amps & they are simply stunning.

my reasoning for steering away from a set is that in the original post he said he’s new to tubes.

a set just seems to be more dependant on tube type, speakers, room size, type of music & listening volumes where as a ul or pp is a little more plug & play for a newbie, that’s all.

I guess my first question should have been what type of music do you listen to, how loud, how big is the room

[richieb]

No worries - truth be told I'm slowly weaning myself from tubes in general, PP and UL in particular. I intend to hold on to my "true" single ended amps (2a3 DHT monoblocks) and Class A SS amps. For my speakers and room I find this to be my sweet spot. 

[Emile]

@Schu, @dirtmudd, @svberger, @EJC, @shiva, @jimjimbo, @richieb, @tube fanatic, @sixsigma, @juniper, @Ceptorman, @edmjm, @derrickdj1 .... Many thanks to all of you for the GREAT advice! Thanks, thanks! Just wanted to thank you "personally."  

 

Check is in the mail to Bob Latino for a VTA ST70 with all the upgrades. Also picking up a Dynaco PAT-4 preamp tomorrow just to try it ... couldn't afford a PAS-3X.   So; will have an "extra" tube amp (Pilot 230, 23W/ch) if anyone would like it (OK; prob for $250)  Oops, also a Dynaco 120 since it came as a "set" with the preamp.  

 

Cheers, Emile

 

[EmilC]

opps. Late to this party

"Check is in the mail to Bob Latino for a VTA ST70 with all the upgrades"

 

 

 

Quick search on Audiogon uncovered this beauty of an  integrated for $775

If interested, ask if the tubes are self biasing. Biasing the tubes yourself is not something you want to deal with especially for a newbie.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/tube-stereo-tube-amplifier-2017-11-11-amplifiers

[derrickdj1]

Tube biasing is not that hard.  On my amp it is noted 0.35-0.40 and there is a little hole to adjust the bias.  Very safe and no messing inside the amp, just dial left or right!

[EJC]

5 hours ago, Emile said:

@Schu, @dirtmudd, @svberger, @EJC, @shiva, @jimjimbo, @richieb, @tube fanatic, @sixsigma, @juniper, @Ceptorman, @edmjm, @derrickdj1 .... Many thanks to all of you for the GREAT advice! Thanks, thanks! Just wanted to thank you "personally."  

 

Check is in the mail to Bob Latino for a VTA ST70 with all the upgrades. Also picking up a Dynaco PAT-4 preamp tomorrow just to try it ... couldn't afford a PAS-3X.   So; will have an "extra" tube amp (Pilot 230, 23W/ch) if anyone would like it (OK; prob for $250)  Oops, also a Dynaco 120 since it came as a "set" with the preamp.  

 

Cheers, Emile

 

 

You'll love it. last year I picked up an old ST-70 for my kid. I ended up having Bob's tech update the unit and my kid loves it.

The PAT-4 should work well with it, I have one I modified sitting in the back I took it out of service when the I started using the HK-500A (integrated amp)

[edmjm]

a nice choice. I’m sure you’ll be very happy with it. don’t be too quick to sell the 120 ss amp. set it up & have a good listen. I haven’t heard one myself but have read some good things about them

happy listening!

[boxerjake]

Dynaco Mark III's can still be found on the cheap ... they are inexpensive and easy to bring up to date,  plus they  pack a " huge " punch for the buck ..

 

the iron in those old mark III's are worth there weight ...

 

I just sold these to another forum member for 1500.00 CAN which is closer to $1200.00 USD ... fully restored and modified by Craig at Nosvalves

 

Original purchase b4 mods was about $500.00

 

These amps can drive a pair of lascalas to near ear bleeding volume with headroom to kick you in the gut , with the added bonus of crystal clear clarity for your sonnet's .