Tube amp advice

[FHB]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking forward to being a part of the Klipsch community - I've decided to pick myself up a pair of RP-600Ms! I've always been a fan of Klipsch's "live" sound and want to replicate that as much when playing records at home. 

 

I've done a bit of research and it looks like I should be going down the tube amp route to pair with these (tubes are all new to me).

 

In terms of how I'll be using them, it'll be for strictly playing my records through. I have a Master Sounds Radius 2 rotary mixer and my collection spans all genres: disco, afrobeat, funk, early 90's house plus good driving blues and rock. 

 

I'm seriously looking at the MP-301 from Musical Paradise and wondering what tubes would complement my setup / musical tastes best. I heard that the tubes with this amp are cheap, chinese produced so should be looking to upgrade. However,  this is where I get lost :) They have a couple of options to upgrade to but I don't know enough about tubes (yet) to make an informed decision. 

 

I'm also not set on this amp so any pointers would be hugely appreciated. My budget is around £1,000 ($1,250) for speakers and amp. 

 

Thanks!

Freddie

 

 

[Travis In Austin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

[OO1]

I would say a 2A3 -is best -----that the option you show , but the budget would need to be raised -

[OO1]

15 hours ago, FHB said:

 

 

I'm also not set on this amp so any pointers would be hugely appreciated. My budget is around £1,000 ($1,250) for speakers and amp. 

 

Thanks!

Freddie

 

 

Decware Zen tube amp

[tube fanatic]

It is impossible to make a purchase decision based on what others think is best.  This is especially true with tube amps.  The best advice is to purchase one from a dealer who will allow you to return it if you are not satisfied.   Check dealer websites and I’m sure you will find some that offer this.

 

 

Maynard

[BadChile]

To answer your first question: most of the non-branded tubes are junk, but anything from a reasonably established brand will be good - if not great.  I prefer JJ Tubes for a number of reasons and run them when I can, but other brands are fine too.  It is waay to easy to spend insane money on tubes (in my opinion).

 

In terms of amps, the OP states they have a budget of 1000 quid ($1,200 USD), so I'm not sure there are non-kit 2A3 or 300B amps available in that price range, particularly if you also want a headphone out.  The MP-301 is a reasonable, well reviewed choice as an entry level Tube Amp.  The Jolida FX-10 is another choice at a higher price, as are the lower-end Elekit and Bottlehead offerings.

 

If you're not certain of the tube game  the APPJ Miniwatt (around 130USD) performs reasonably well with my Heresy IIIs, KG4, KG1, and RB-51 II speakers but lacks headphone out.  The stock tubes in the Miniwatt are junk but once changed out for around $30 total I'd say it gets me 70% of the way to my heavily modified and upgraded Elekit TU-8200 at less than 1/6th the cost.

 

PS: As I've said before, don't get into DIY to save money.  Get into DIY because it is a fun hobby that has the side effect of giving you cool audio toys.  But I certainly haven't saved money in the DIY game considering how my kids know that a package from Digi-Key means dad is going into the workshop with a soldering iron for the next couple of hours.

 

 

 

 

[FHB]

Thanks v much for all the comments guys - really appreciate it. 

 

I think for now, I'm going to wait to get into the tube game as you say it's a DIY hobby that can drain a lot of funds (which I don't have right now). 

I still plan to get a tube amp down the line but for now I plan to pick up the IOTAVX SA3 to pair with the RP-600Ms. 

 

Cheers for all the advice, I'll return to this thread when the time is right

[seti]

I bought used on audiogon and traded tube amps till I got a sense of what I liked.

 

 

[OO1]

On 5/12/2020 at 7:22 AM, tube fanatic said:

It is impossible to make a purchase decision based on what others think is best.  This is especially true with tube amps.  The best advice is to purchase one from a dealer who will allow you to return it if you are not satisfied.   Check dealer websites and I’m sure you will find some that offer this.

 

 

Maynard

Maynard ,  as long as you know about tubes , question , what is the most powerful tube amp you know off , and second question , is it a class A amp -----tx

[tube fanatic]

18 hours ago, RANDYH said:

Maynard ,  as long as you know about tubes , question , what is the most powerful tube amp you know off , and second question , is it a class A amp -----tx

 

https://www.vtl.com/products/power-amplifiers/monoblock-amplifiers/siegfried-series-ii-reference-monoblock/

 

You can’t get that kind of power running class A.

 

 

Maynard

 

 

[OO1]

3 minutes ago, tube fanatic said:

class A.

 

 

Thanks Maynard --I really like class A amps