InventiveAudio.com Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 Hi, I'm currently thinking about using 5 monobolck SE amps for my home theater setup and replacing my SS 5 channel amplifier. I'm realling gettin getting into SACD and DVD-A and thought it would be great to have tubes for all my speakers. Each monoblock puts out about 5 watts of power and has a volume control. I currently have K-Horns for Mains, a Forte 2 for a center channel and Heresys for Rears. My preamp allows me to adjust speaker levels to tweak output and I run a large DIY sub. 1. What ere there any pros and cons in using all tubes for HT? 2. I'd love to hear from anyone who is currently using all tubes and how they like their setup... 3. Has anyone else contemplated all tubes for HT? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 I'm not running tubes for my HT (so take this with a grain of salt), but I have a thought about it. Certainly you could run an all-tube HT system, but my question is why, other than for aesthetic reasons? My assumption is that movie soundtracks are less concerned with the clarity and nuance of the music and such and more concerned with the dialogue and the effects; i.e., the explosions and other loud, startling effects, squealing tires, gunshots, and screams. The louder, the better? Those are exactly the things that you don't need tubes for IMO...You could certainly go with a mix, but there is really no particular benefit to having an all-tube system in my estimation. So, to me, the form does not follow function in this case... Seems to me that it would be rather an expensive choice for the same results. Other than for aesthetic reasons... If you mostly listen to 6-channel music and the like, then it's a whole 'nuther ball game; I was talking mostly about movies... DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InventiveAudio.com Posted July 30, 2004 Author Share Posted July 30, 2004 SACD and DVD-A are the major motivators to making this leap. I agree that movies don't need tubes but I don't want muiltiple amplifiers in my system. IE a 5 channel SS and 5 tube monoblocks is a little too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted July 30, 2004 Share Posted July 30, 2004 I seriously considered the Butler Audio 5150 5 channel amp to pair with my McCormack preamp but I saved some money and went with B&K instead. I am thrilled with the B&K, but one always wonders what could have been had they gone another way. Maybe someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J M O N Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 I have had tubes in my HT system, but only in the front two channels. The rears and center were driven by the SS AV receiver. As mentioned, I see no benefit in using tubes for watching movies. Music on the other hand, such as multi-channel SACD or concert DVD's could definitely benefit. Just for some interesting information, I recently added a 2A3 SET amp into my system. I have Khorns up front, a Belle Center, and Heresy's in the rear. I didn't think the 2A3 SET could do much in an HT environment, but I must admit that I was impressed with what it could do. Now I did have to greatly adjust the levels to compensate, and the room was relatively small (18'x12'), but it did just fine. I doubt that you could get by with only 5 Watts on the Heresy's though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 ---------------- On 7/30/2004 11:47:28 AM trader wrote: 1. What ere there any pros and cons in using all tubes for HT? 2. I'd love to hear from anyone who is currently using all tubes and how they like their setup... 3. Has anyone else contemplated all tubes for HT? Thanks ---------------- I have installed one all-tube HT system (7.1 - it was a thing of beauty) for a client here locally. We spent a great deal of time discussing what he wanted out of his system before he even so much as picked out speakers. Here are my thoughts, based on that conversation and the resulting installation. 1) SE amps are not going to deliver the dynamic headroom you'll need for HT. It's just not going to happen. The dynamic range on movie soundtracks and SACD masters are going to demand more than those amps can reasonably give in a moderate power situation, efficient speakers or not. There's just too much variance between quiet and loud portions for a 5-10 watt amplifier to hang. 2) What we ended up installing for him were a bunch of 30 watt PP's and matched 98dB SPL LCR's. The client was astounded, although I still feel the amps stressed during extremely loud movie passages (I always field-test with LOTR - one of the best movie soundtracks I've ever been exposed to for pure dynamic content) - my feeling is that 50 wpc is the bare minimum I'd put to an HT system with tubes. That reminds me, I need to give George Wright a call and find out if he has his 70W blocks in production - last time I talked to him, they were still in pre.... Of course, you can take this all with a grain of salt, as you're talking to someone who's very accustomed to applying 200wpc of solid state power to speakers that couldn't handle half that, just to ensure dynamic headroom in customer installations. My belief is that if you have to push the amp to its limits, you don't have enough amp for your application, and you're not maximizing your speaker's capabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 ---------------- On 7/30/2004 11:47:28 AM trader wrote: 1. What ere there any pros and cons in using all tubes for HT? 2. I'd love to hear from anyone who is currently using all tubes and how they like their setup... 3. Has anyone else contemplated all tubes for HT? Thanks ---------------- In reverse order, 3. Yep. 2. Ok 1. Pros - beautiful sound. Cons - headroom, heat, expense (tube replacement). I'm using 35wpc tubes for the mains in my HT, 125wpc SS amp for the center and rears. In the future I'd like to add three mono's across the front and move my currrent amp to the rears. But that's my dream system. I agree with Grif, more power would be better. It will get you better bass extention. With only 35wpc I have to crossover the sub higher then I did with 140wpc SS. In otherwords, you can adjust for the lower power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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