Are all tube amps better than solid state amps?

[trvale]

Right now my Onkyo TX-DS595 is running both as my home theater running Quintets, and for my computer running SB-1's. I was thinking of getting just a stereo amp for my computer and the SB-1's, and thought I might give tubes a try. I have heard so many good things about them. But I was looking to spend less than $200, which I have found many tube amps in this price range on ebay. But are these going to sound better than say a used McIntosh solid state amp? And also I have noticed these usually have very low wattage, anywhere from 12-40 watts. Will that be enough to power my SB-1 with 92dB efficiency?

[Stephen328]

First of all, 15 watts is plenty of power. Most people don't realy understand the decibel scale(not claiming that I entirly do). But it does state that for the volume (output in decibals) to double, the wattage must be multiplied by 10. In otherwords 10 watts is half as loud as 100 watts. With this in mind 15 watts should be plenty. As far as tube vs. solid state amps both have their own charecteristics. Tubes often sound sweeter, warmer, and have more natural treble. Many solid state amps amps make treble dry, brittle, metallic and etched. THese are just general charecteristics of the two. Tube and solid state amps can be built free of these colorations, but general when compared they follow those trends. Just go with whatever sounds good to you. Also remeber that with a tube amp you will have replace the tubes roughly every 1000 to 2000 hours. tube replacments run from $10 to $50. Either solution should work fine, just go with whatever sounds good to you.

[Pland]

Hi,

92 db eff.speakers will be a great match for a 15 watt tube amp ,assuming a fairly flat impedence curve.Unless you listen really loud,you'll be spending all your listening sessions at about 1watt or less.

Comparing a vintage tube amp to a modern ,very expensive piece of ss gear strikes me as irrelevant given your budget,but considering that a 200.00 Scott 299 in 1960 would cost over 2000.00 in current dollars,maybe the matchup isn't as lopsided as it seems.I've listened to some excellent modern SS amps(Classe,Linn comes to mind),as well as some very expensive SS gear that sounded horrible(Krell,early SS Mc Intosh).Not to insult any one,but the mid-fi SS amps I owned (Adcom 585,Denon,Yamaha) were terrible,really awful.

This doesn't mean that all tube gear is created equal ,by any means.I've owned 3 Jolida amps,and while they were fairly easy to listen to,they just don't compare to vintage Dynaco,Eico,or Scott,all of which are close to your price range.You can still sneak up on a Scott 299a for less than 200.00,and trust me ,after a tune up this amp will crush anything in your current frame of reference.

Changing tubes every 1-2000 hours is also bull****,as most of the tubes in these old amps are still good after some 40 years +.I own a tube tester,and this isn't speculation,as I've tested hundreds of old tubes.My Eico HF 87 came with a full compliment of XF1 Mullards,and all were still over 100%.I'm not sure I've ever tested a Telefunken 12AX7 that was bad.Even new production seems to last okay,but after a high initial failure rate.The Sovtek EL84 in my Audionote OTO SE still test good after 7 years of play,2-3 hours per day.Keep in mind that this presumes that the designer of the amp ran the tubes at sane operating points(which the vintage amps,except the Citation II do).

If you are afraid of the vintage approach,don't be.I'm sure Craig(NOS 440) would be happy to walk you through a rebuild on a 299 Scott,or would do the work for a reasonable fee.You can also consult the Scott website for schematics and info.Ditto for an Eico HF81,but they're getting so pricey,one may be beyond your budget.

Good luck,

Pat

[Colin]

excellent post, Pland, especially about the voltage, I think may new amps run their tubes hot to get the extra power, but that burns up the tubes, which is OK if the tubes are cheap, also new designs often have a preset bias for particular tubes so that newbies don't have to fiddle with the voltage levels, this makes new designs a plug n play solution just like SS pieces

at 92dB/w/m the speakers begin to hint at the dynamics and tone possible with tubes, this does not become immediately apparent however until you have both higher efficiences and horn designs...

[Audio Flynn]

I have been reading about the Monarchy Audio SS Class A amps.

I think they have no negative feedback but I may be wrong about that.

Some SS amps may have very interesting characteristics to evaluate. Until you get a chance to live with it.

Difficult things to acheive...

1. Money

2. In home auditions with your rig

3. Return if dissatisfied(Audio Advisor gives 30 days)

4. decent resale value if you do not like

[prodj101]

lol, I aggree with pland about the 1000-2000 hour thing. I bought an Eico 12 watt per channel amp for a garage sale that was made in the 1940's and it worked fine. Also, retubing will cost much more than 10-50 bucks depending on what you're using! My little eico was about 40, but my home made one was over 200 . (4 KT 88's, 2 input tubes, 2 rectifiers). I also own a used Mcintosh amp I really like alot. It has a pretty smooth sound, and has way more power than I'll ever need. I got it used for around 700 bucks.

[trvale]

Thanks everyone for your great responses. I have been looking and I have been able to find some Scott amps in my price range. I have seen both the 299 which was recomended by Pland, and I am also finding the 222. Is the 222 comparable to the 299?

[Jobman]

Audio Flynn:

I used to own a pair of the Monarchy SM70's, and they were awesome! I used them as a Balanced pair, and with the Cornwalls I had at the time, it more than blew me out of the room at #3. If I was to buy another amp from Monarchy, I would look at the SE100's.

There has been much written in the Archives about these amps, with a big stamp of approval from Mobile Homeless.

I currently have a pair of Marantz MA-700 THX monoblocks, and while they are nice, (Great feedback on Audio Review) I still prefer the Monarchys for SS amps.

However, they are on the way out as I have bought a pair of McIntosh MC-40 monoblocks, which should be up and running by the end of the week.

Do not be afraid of tubes - embrace them - but don't burn yourself.

Jobman

[Pland]

Hi,

The early 222 series amps sound much less impressive than the 299 series amps.The 222c,however ,is a real hotrod.It is basically the replacement for the 299b,and is considered to be one of the best Scott EL84(7189) based amps.Later 299(c,d) are 7591 based ,and sound very different.I much prefer the Eico ST70 if you decide to go with a 7591 based output tube,and it can be had for less than 200.00.

Best,

Pat

[lynnm]

Re Your Subject Line:

Of Course Not !!

I suspect that your question was tongue in cheek anyway. In case it wasn't. Good amplifcation is good amplifcation.........etc - regardless of the technology behind the amplifcation.