Just1n20 Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 hearing all the hype about tube amps and the audiophiles swearing behind them, i wonder if this is an old mans game. not too offend anyone but say a 20 yr old wanted to fiddle with a Jolida JD 202a and some RF-3 or RF-5's, do tubes generally make all genres of music sound better? yes its all about personal preference and your own taste, but i haven't heard anyone say they listen to tupac or eminem through tubes and some Klipschorns (and for good reason, rap is horrible) or some god awful punk music for that matter. i guess my question is would it be worth it to buy a $750 tube amp, or a $700 hybrid, or a Harman Kardon or Onkyo $800 HT receiver and just run floorspeakers that way? has anyone been in the same position? the tubes and hybrid would be for 2 channel but if i had to i'd run the 2 channel through a low-fi receiver... i'm not talking hi-end here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1stcav Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I used to assume that the majority of tube owners listened to classical, jazz, and other easy-listening tunes. But since being a forum member and reading thousands of posts, I know for a fact that alot of tube owners listen to all types of music. Even serious, dyed-in-the-wool high-end audiophiles will admit listening to all forms of classic and present-day rock, funk, R&B, soft jazz, and even Marilyn Manson if given the chance! In my unprofessional opinion, tube gear does not discriminate, and will play any form of music to it's fullest! If you've got the opportunity to purchase a tube amp, by all means...do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Yeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 O.K., I'll be serious. I listen to Taproot, STP, Queens of the Stone Age, Korn, Mudvayne, etc. I dig into the 70's stuff too -- Rush, Led Z, Moody Blues, Yes, and even the Beatles. Get yourself 40 to 60 tube watts with some RF-3's or 5's -- and you will never, ever, go back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyhorns Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I think much of the tube stereotyping is because tubes are thought of as polite, slow and lacking bass slam, which may be the case depending on type & circuit design, just like some SS gear is ear-ripping bright and grainy with uncontroled booming bass. It is still a mattter of combining the right gear, speakers, room & ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 IMHO, the issue with tubes and rock is not will they do it well, they'll do it great as long as you have enough power. In my listening to different tube topologies to find out what I liked best, for me it is the 2A3 SET amps. That's a completely subjective preference, however, in audition all these different amps I found out the truth of what another forum member had shared. 2A3 works for simple type jazz, vocals, etc. But when the musical program starts to get complex and really loud, the amp is beyond what it can do. Now that's just the limitation of that typology. There are tube amps that can also blow the windows out of your house. It's just finding the right amp. Of course, what sounds "right" to your ears is what's right! Dee Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 15 to 20 wpc of scott tube power blows the doors off their hinges if that's what I want. Not quite like my old 200wpc of SS but my ears can't take it anyway. Neither can the K-77s (blew 2 of them with too much SS wattage in 1980 and learned my lesson). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Dee, I agree that PP amps sound differently to SET amps (and ofcourse not all of those are created equal), that taste is very subjective indeed (and so are the basic sound levels we might be listening to), but I am not sure that a good SET cannot reproduce 'complex' music faithfully. I believe that a large symphony orchestra can be a rather 'demanding' source of music (so can be certain Chinese drums or even a single xylophone) and to my ears (and at those listening levels I can chose - sorry, no SPL meter at hand) the Wrights reproduce such music as well as the MX-110/8B combo, albeit with a different flavour. So in the end one really has to listen to an amp/speaker combination in one's own home (if possible) and decide according to taste. Just my 0.02. Wolfram Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 just1 n20, Tonight did Zepplin, Houses of The Holy, at about 112+ db's peaks, c weight, slow response, max setting on the SPL meter. No ear bleeding or ringing, just some incredible ROCK & ROLL. It would take some mighty pricey SS gear to match what I'm hearing. At the moment I'm to lazy to look up the tube compliment & wattage rating of that Jolida. I would suspect you need something in the push pull topology atleast 20 watts, will get you were you want to be as far as achieving higher volumes without experienceing to much compression. 60 watts would never run out of steam, it would be like the energizer bunny "thump" "thump" "thump"!! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 In the stead of my LK-48 which is out for rehabilitiation; there is a Dynaco pre and a hearty 7591 Scott power amp. We listened to the "Pandoras Box" Disc 2 from Arrowsmith and Disc one from the "Last Waltz" by Da Band. If that aint enough R&R for even Dean; i do not know what to do. More efficiency and more tubes! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Rick, is that set remastered in 20 or 24 bit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Well, I have to tell ya. With 150 watts of triode power going to a 3 channel Klipschorn system (50W/speaker), Tool never sounded better! Incredible actually. That's one I usually play at average levels of 108-110Db. As far as rock goes, consider that almost all guitar players still use tube amps exclusively & many bass players use tube amps too, often with some form of horn(s) applied, sometimes just the tweeter, but some are fully horn loaded. Hell, I even know a bunch of blues/rock harp players that all use old tube guitar and/or bass amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1n20 Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 artto, now i found someone in the same music taste as me, i know guitar and bass players use tube amps for the tone. but i didnt know how more modern rock music would sound through a tube amp, i assumed it would sound better because its a tube amp, but i hadn't come across reading it in any threads. pretty sure im going to invest it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Tubes are a welcome addition. If you are just thinking about amps, don't forget preamp also. A SS pre and tube amps is a waste of money IMHO. A tube pre and SS amp is a good combination IMHO. An intergrated tube (pre and amp in one unit)is very good. I am using SET at the moment and it will handle anything I play very well. I am afraid I only listen to Blues and Jazz so I can't comment on other types of music. If you have some money (not alot) and are willing to experiment I think you will like the results. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1n20 Posted July 18, 2003 Author Share Posted July 18, 2003 ya the jolida tube amp i'm looking at is intergrated, i don't think i could afford a good separate tube pre-amp and tube amp system. anyone have any recommendations in the under $1000 range or thoughts on the Jolida JD 202A? i'm limited to that price range for college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Painful Reality Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 ---------------- On 7/18/2003 2:00:42 PM Just1n20 wrote: ya the jolida tube amp i'm looking at is intergrated, i don't think i could afford a good separate tube pre-amp and tube amp system. anyone have any recommendations in the under $1000 range or thoughts on the Jolida JD 202A? i'm limited to that price range for college. ---------------- This preamp should be pretty nice. I don't think I ever saw one go over 200 USD. These pop up quite regularly on eBay. I think these should be nice. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14974&item=3035970274 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 ---------------- On 7/18/2003 2:00:42 PM Just1n20 wrote: ya the jolida tube amp i'm looking at is intergrated, i don't think i could afford a good separate tube pre-amp and tube amp system. anyone have any recommendations in the under $1000 range or thoughts on the Jolida JD 202A? i'm limited to that price range for college. ---------------- Actually I would recommend Daddydee's NOSValves rebuilt SCott 299C. It's known to be a stellar performer, and it will probably still be worth what you would pay for it in 4 (or 5 or 6)years when you graduate. I don't think that would be the case with the Jo. Also note the summed center channel with volume control-excellent for subwoofer use, as Dee noted in another thread. Keep in mind as you go off to school-chicks dig tubes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 ---------------- On 7/18/2003 2:18:18 PM bclarke421 wrote: ---------------- Actually I would recommend Daddydee's NOSValves rebuilt SCott 299C. It's known to be a stellar performer, and it will probably still be worth what you would pay for it in 4 (or 5 or 6)years when you graduate. I don't think that would be the case with the Jo. Also note the summed center channel with volume control-excellent for subwoofer use, as Dee noted in another thread. Keep in mind as you go off to school-chicks dig tubes! ---------------- Good excuse for turning the lights out. Tell her she's got to check out that tube glow. I agree on the scott recommendation. Whether it be a 299 or 299b or 299c. All nice amps in your price range and you can always re-sell on this forum and get what you paid. Not to mention that a 299c is available right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Stop the Insanity! All this talk on tubes is making me want some. Look what you guys did to Gary, he's hooked like a Heroin junkie now. A nice Scott 229B, and now a McIntosh MX-110/MC240 combo it's like an illness. I have found myself browsing on Audiogon, Audioweb, and eBay recently looking at tube amplifiers and integrated tube amps. What to do, what to do. I think I would really like to hear some first before diving in. I wish there was a store in my area that had a vareity of tube systems set up but I doubt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 ---------------- On 7/18/2003 2:39:21 PM Frzninvt wrote: Stop the Insanity! All this talk on tubes is making me want some. Look what you guys did to Gary, he's hooked like a Heroin junkie now. A nice Scott 229B, and now a McIntosh MX-110/MC240 combo it's like an illness. I have found myself browsing on Audiogon, Audioweb, and eBay recently looking at tube amplifiers and integrated tube amps. What to do, what to do. I think I would really like to hear some first before diving in. I wish there was a store in my area that had a vareity of tube systems set up but I doubt it. ---------------- Charles, You should be proud of me. I just emailed the seller of the black cornwalls and told her I wasn't interested. I hope someone else on the forum can get them but I don't feel like dealing with shipping. It took a lot of will power to give up on those. I will, however, pick up and protect those vertical corns for you if you need me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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