Great content, really respect all 3 of your opinions and insights. Thanks for taking the time to make these kind of videos.

In my experience, circuit topology is vastly more important, regardless of gain device. I’d also suggest tube amps are MUCH more sensitive to components selection within audio signal circuit while SS amps are more dependent upon their power supply capacity and design. Between our 2 homes we have 3 audio systems, the amps are all SE DHT valve, albeit quite different execution; Wavac 805, David Berning ZOTL 845 and Border Patrol 300B. The Berning feeds a pair of full range 3-way horns, there’s also accompanying horn bass w/integrated class d ss amp which I intend to experiment with some other amps and active crossover at some point. The BP 300B feeds 2-way horns in my study, no bass/sub, it goes to 32hz @ -3db. The Wavac is in our primary home, the speakers are dynamic box Von Schweikert VR5 Anniversary, biamped with Rogue Apollo monos driving the woofers. That system is nearly all tube front to back w/CAT SL1 preamp and Manley tape head preamp. I do have a DS Audio SS phono for my DS Audio optical cartridge, the CAT phono section is tube and handles the Grado and Lyra cartridges. For perspective, that room is 18’ x 27’ with open scissor truss ceiling that is 10’ at walls, 16.5’ at ridge. It will play to near concert sound levels w/o strain. Obviously my favorite amps are SE DHT, they just sound more real and engaging. As the young man on left stated, it’s mostly about matching speakers and amps. The VR5 Anniv is very unique for dynamic box speakers in that it works really well bi amped w/SE DHT top end and even its bottom section does not require a high damping factor amp. My 2nd favorite amp I’ve owned is the Pass Labs Aleph 1.2, which my son now enjoys at his home. I also owned a Aleph 0 but it was more temperamental and was sent back to Nelson more than once with issues. My other favorite SS amp, which a good friend still owns, though I never owned but did demo for roughly a month in my home a decade ago, is the late Tim DeParavicini’s EAR M100A. Both of these are SE SS amps, though the EAR does employ 5687 vacuum tube input stage and a transformer coupled output, essentially a SE DHT circuit substituting big triodes for MOSFET’s. These are just extraordinarily musical amps, the near match of the best SE DHT and far surpassing and P-P SS amp I’ve ever heard. I will add the AGD Gran Vivace too is quite impressive, not the equal of EAR but damn close. From there, I do favor some P-P pentodes, but others I find really pretty awful, including your 1st example McIntosh. Musical maybe but sorry, it’s just not for me despite my fondness for tubes. If I need big power, give me an old Manley, when David was still there, any VTL or any Rogue Audio. I love the VTL adaptability with changing damping factor (feedback loop) and running in Tetrode or Triode but I think what separates they and Rogue is quality of components in the audio circuit, particularly the transformer windings. Most big SS amps these days, even a certain brand just down the mountain from my home here in CO that fits 6-figure price tags to their cnc machined alloy chassis, are just not pushing the art form. Somehow the art musicality, the entire reason we listen to music, appears to have been lost. I do think a contributing reason is many of what I find to be the best sounding components are designed by persons who have worked as sound and/or studio engineers. Folks like David Manley, his son Luke, Tim de Paravicini, David Berning, etc, they all worked in some capacity in sound recording industry. They have that ear and appreciation for the recording from the masters and to reproduce that sound as faithful to original as possible is their true goal….as opposed to building gear that my look cool sitting on a shiny rack 😉

Great video Guys! Thanks

I like my Rogue Sphinx V3 because it has SS amp and an integrated Tube Preamp.

The Young guy in the leather Jacket seems very knowledgeable. Very impressed. We need more younger guys like him in our hobby

@sdads7531

4 жыл бұрын

He is a very well respected reviewer with his own channel. You can check him out here: kzread.info/dron/G8GZMXiVDTWk8U5PnOmJcw.html

@stephencosta6814

4 жыл бұрын

Ooo it's more than just a hobby it's a obsession my friend... 🤔🤔🤔🙄🙄🙄😂😂😂👌👌👍👍

@stephencosta6814

4 жыл бұрын

👍👍👌👌🙄🙄Excellent advice my brothers I have a tube setup and a sold state setup🍻🍻🍻

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

the only problem is that he has no idea what he is talking about...these are clowns in the audio world,spreading their ignorance while trying to sell more. o thanks for your great wisdom mr hifi salesman,next time i'll learn from someone less eager to sell and with some experience outside the store

@ralex3697

3 жыл бұрын

@@yaniv-nos-tubes Very rude comment

Interesting as always. Thanks.

I'm a poor man's audiophile and have purchased 4 cary solid state "Tubish" amps from the used marke and love the warm sound they mimic with my Magnepans. My speakers are just way to power hungry to use tubes all the way. Once I saw the cost of replacing a power Tube I had to say no sale. Later I did purchase pre-amp tube based gear and they made me very emotional about my music and took it to the next level. I would suggest purchasing a quality tube based pre-amp and go from their. Later see if you can do a try before you buy before investing in a power tube amplifier.

What do you guys think about klipsch forte4 and a MAC7200?

Well designed tube gear shouldn't ever sound soft, it should have all the dynamics and bass needed. If any of those are lacking, the equipment is not up to par.

@leancove9662

2 жыл бұрын

Right on!

The conversation in reference to solid state, you could’ve mentioned, or elaborated on Class A & AB amps also, carry on gentlemen.

I recently converted to both all tube preamp and power amp. Tubes are current devices and are clearly superior.

@MichaelM-to4sg

6 ай бұрын

Tubes are voltage gain devices, not current gain. Transistors are current gain devices

There is no better, it’s personal taste and somewhat linked to the music you listen to. I have owned both and in the past have had the fortune of building valve/toob and solid state systems to run side by side and musically they both outperformed each other depending on the music played

I have taken violin lessons and have several violins. I have not really EVER heard a solid state system reproduce the sound. I agree with the softness at times with tubes amps, I have twelve tubes per channel to drive my speakers. The amps are hanging on 250 volt input. Power does matter based on comparisons.

Another excellent video , thanks to yous I'm learning more and more.. but .I'm surely a newbie, in the process of the hi-fi world .. and in the process of setting/saving up for a seperate system, so my question to you guys is how would the hybrid from macntosh such as the MA252 and or the MA352. .or would I be just better off getting a intergrated main amp, and tube preamp..Would such give me the best of both worlds tube and transistor side. .,?.. please all answers from experience users would very very welcomed do to the fact that I'm saving$ for such, my room size is a about an medium size rectangle, and I enjoy listening to a variety of genres from classical to low and heavey bass music, soft rock, vocals, reggae,dembow, easy listening,instrumentals etc. a truely mixed bag. ...I'll be very grateful to all and any suggestions..again thanks.

With my Gale 401A's I use a tube preamp ( a doubled Pi filtered External power supply) with two Psvane Treasure 6SN7-SE and a Class A/B SS Power amp running 300 into 8ohm and 500 into 4. The best of both worlds my speakers have told me.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

actually once you toss the chinese glass and get proper nos tubes "the best" would even be a lot better....

So the new MC Intosh MA 252 AC seems to be an interesting offer. Any experiences out there with this amp? Better than Hegel 390...?

I am a tube guy for various reasons including the natural sound but synergy is important in that the amp and speaker need to be appropriate for each other. That said there are situations where SS is appropriate. 1. Subwoofers. It can be done with tubes but the cost/benefit usually favors sand. 2. Utility amps. These are applications where I need something that can handle a certain amount of abuse or neglect or where it will have to run long stretches with almost no attention. 3. Cost sensitive. These are situations where it has to be cheap and there is no heirloom factor.

Hi, fascinating video. You touched on the topic of using tubes in the pre-amp rather than in the amp. Found very little on this topic on the web. I am currently thinking about the McIntosh C2700 tube pre-amp, but I would not be using McIntosh amp, probably Moon. Is the case for a solid state amp mixed with tube pre-amp weakened if mixing brands or wouldn't it matter?

@adelinomorte7421

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, as I said before nothing on tubes can do better than solid state, only personal choices and the way they prefer to listen their kind of music or the money they can and like to put on it.

Great video. Thanks guys!

Good discussion. Wish you could play and show the difference. As an audience its better you play after the discussion.

My neighbor had a tube console with Bozak speakers. 1970’s. He would only turn volume up at 1/4. U could hear his system almost a block away. The closer U got to his house U could feel it. Like Jay said, it depends upon your system components. Wattage, spkrs, etc.. it’s Tubes for me.

Excellent conversation. Which we could have a sample of sound to use to along with the comments.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

no useful information whatsoever and many misconceptions.these are not the people you learn from anything seriously.

I talked to an engineer many decades ago who designed stereo amplifiers, both tube and solid state with mosfets to achieve a warmer tube like sound.. He told me very basically without getting too technical or detailed, that the tube by it's inherent design of the "vertical field effect" can actually capture the upper and lower harmonics of a fundamental tone, that can be more sensed than heard, duplicating a live performance. He told me that he heard many live performances and based his systems on his live music experience. Good review.

First of all let me tell my experience in the field of reproduction of sound. I started to study this subject in the 1950's, only all tubes and was determined to know all about sound amplifiers at those times was acceptable as a good amplifier if it would give us a good satisfaction, but I was never happy with it , so I progress in the studies of those reasons and reach the conclusion that the subject was much more complex than amplifiers and speakers but first of all the personal choice on how to listen music and what kind, than the size of the room and how it is furnished, from it we will know how many acoustic watts we need, than depending on the efficiency of the speakers used as well as the frequencies they can reproduce, calculate the output power for the amplifiers that at those times in an average in the market should be : 20 htz to 20 khtz flat with harmonic distortion no more than 1% and intermodulation less than .5%. . Based on that the market started to sale that as an average normal and affordable price, but those parameters could be even much better for a higher price and extraordinary performance . Also the microphones and recorded music had a lot to desire. We could enjoy a real Hi FI, but we have to get a lot of knowledge about the AUDIO. Today with solid state and recorded digital we can enjoy a real very close to perfect sound reproduction and for a much more affordable price. There is nothing that we did on those times with tubes that we can not do in solid state and a lot better than with tubes and for a fraction of the price, size and energy consumption. Off course there are a lot of nostalgia and personal preferences, but solid state, digital and condenser microphones surpasses all that tubes can give us today. For example the price we have to pay for today's tube amplifiers we can buy or design and construct a real HI FI system that will put aside the best system of those old times .

@Gez492

2 жыл бұрын

Sorry but you are perhaps living with the sound memory of soft 50's tube amps. There is a good reason why there are ever increasing manufacturers of modern Tube Amplifiers and why many new tubes are being manufactured from old designs. It's because they offer another perspective, another take on music reproduction and formal younger person like me great ones just sound fantastic. Modern speakers can make the world of difference with tube amps for instance my friend runs a pair of Tim de Pavaracini designed EAR Yoshino 509 monoblocs. They run 509 tubes in the output stage and it makes a punchy but refined 100 Watts per monobloc and has 4 and 8 ohm transformer based outputs taps. Surprising then that these amps pair extremely well with Focals and sound super fast, hugely dynamic and very powerful but retain the nuances that great tube designs can bring to sound staging and mids that no Solid state I've heard can match and I and he have both owned solid state pre and power amps in the 10,000 GBP range. I still have mine but I prefer to run a British 1990 Lumley ST70 KT 88 push pull tube amp which can run ultralinear or triode mode useful for some music I recapped it with Audyn silver reference and Audionote and Huge expensive Nichicon filter caps. This power amp is a work of art with has a thoughtful design all beautifully made point to point wiring which really does have superiority over multi layer surface mount electronics. This Amp is paired with a EAR yoshino 868PL all tube pre amp transformer driven including the MC phono stage the Amp drives Proac Response 3.8 floor standers and I can tell you it kicks and wants for nothing compared with my Solid State. The thing I find now with so many great new designs of tube amps coming to the market, people sit down and listen to a good one properly synergistically paired and they never go back. I may look at GaNfet Solid state in the future but solid state AB doesn't do it for me and class D although promising is still not there yet, Class A is pretty darn good but I don't want the electric bills thanks. Oh and why is it that Tubes improve Solid state power amps and definitely improve CD players. Vacuum tubes are far from dead my friend, look around you.

Jay said it : it‘s all about using the right speaker (in the right room). In my opinion -if matched tight - high quality tube amps are then able to produce quality bass that few transistor amps can match. For example an Audio Note Tomei driving the company’s own AN-E speakers.

It’s cool how those two guys came from this channel.

I have a Leak Point one pre amp and a Leak plus 20 Power amp both refurbished recently,at great cost. Both made in the UK in 1960. Which I will never trade for ANYTHING!

i really like the considered thoughtful romantic eloquent Vilip

I'd like to use Polk audio silk horn tweeters for the vocals and high notes, MB quart reference or old school Realistics for the mids and low end. I want the sound to fill the space and take me back to the first time I listened to a Sony Walkman and immediately spun around looking for the band. I want to feel the baseline and synthesizers strings and horns. What I dont know is if I should run the large speaker on mono or not. I like the lows clean and tight not all drawn out and humming. 🤔What do the three of you suggest I purchase for this kind of experience. I appreciate quality and will pay for the best bang for the buck. Any help is much appreciated. Great video. New subscriber. ☝️🙂👍

Beautiful music can move people, and high-quality products will also move people. We have always been sincere.

That young dude though! He's amazing!

Hi guys i do own both. I think and have red that the phaze respones of the tube amps are more linear than the solid state. The most solid state amps are 180 deg out of phaze between low and high. Thats why tubes are so warm sounding. It links the lows to the highs very well. Most tubez are less than 90deg out of phaze. The harmonics is therefor better. Greetings. Love the show.

It was a tough call for me, but I went with the C53 over the C2700.... Overall, for the type of music I listen to the Solid State sound works... moreover, the C53 comes with a very useful 8 band EQ.

@torchbox

2 жыл бұрын

I went with C2700 - something about the sound just drew me in. I came from C47 so I was familiar with SS preamp sound but going from C47 to C2700 was significant - not so going from C47 to C53.

I listened to my friend’s tube based system and I’m not impressed. However, he is absolutely in love with it, and that’s all that matters. I must admit that the cool factor of tube amplifiers is off the chart!

@Audfile

2 жыл бұрын

Your friends tube system might have been crap. Nothing is universal.

Tube equipment is magical for vocals, especially female vocals. Also, tubes allow you to change your sound by tube rolling. Some tubes are very dynamic, punchy, and fast.

@pickleadaykeepsthedoctoraw5542

2 жыл бұрын

You can do this with DSP, filters, and other means these days. Stop being a fossil.

@beslemeto

2 жыл бұрын

SS allows you to change Op Amps!it is even better than rolling tubes, because its much cheaper and gives the same results!

JBL L7s with Soundcraftsmen 5050 tub amp for the highs & soundcraftsmen A5002 bipolar for the subs(25W+250W). Best combo for 80’s rock music. For Jazz, Mcintosh MC30’s tubs on high & MC7100s mono for bass.(30W+300W)

@StagnantMizu

Ай бұрын

are the L7s even good?

Hi. If anyone here haven't heard the now legendary Lavardin IT amp, you should conceder that, if your looking for a solid state amp, that have the sonic signatures of tubes, but at the same time, the muscles you get with a solid state. You could say that Lavardin took the best of two worlds, and i can only say to all Audiophiles, do NOT miss out of those French amps. BTW, they are still in business, after starting out in the mid 90's.

Steely state gives me a migraine every time. I tried liking them but could not get over how thin and brittle they sounded. I was spoiled by tubes and I am glad many people where I live say to me they still make those.

I feel like you can still get really good bass with tubes. Maybe not extreme slam, but it comes down to matching up with the right speaker. Daft Punk shakes my room with clean tight bass on 92db efficient easy to drive speakers with just 11 watts.

@Dr.Richard_Kimble

3 жыл бұрын

Which speakers?

@CollectingRetro

3 жыл бұрын

@@Dr.Richard_Kimble 8008-Corner designed by Troels Gravesen. I still absolutely love these speakers. Every bit as good, if not better, than Audio Note E with single ended tube amps.

@mkshffr4936

2 жыл бұрын

For sub 30Hz It would take a very special tube setup (ergo the SS sub amps). It could be done with herculean efforts but kind of like climbing Mt. Everest. However with the vast majority of music the right tube amp and speaker combination can give you strong tight bass that is very natural sounding. You would want sensitive wide band speakers with a benign impedance curve. You would need an amp with properly spec'ed (large with high primary inductance) output transformers. More than likely you will want a push pull with a decent amount of headroom. Sometimes SS systems with good slam lack the finesse for natural detailed acoustic bass or bassoon that a good tube system can give. Usually inadequate bass is a matter of mismatch. Sometimes biamp plus sub makes for very balanced system. Since output transformers can be optimized for the particular range.

I was considering the ifi itube as my first pre-amplifier but i like bass and the more they are define the better. I don't know if Tubes are for me ?

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

i use it. it's great. .whoever says that tubes lacks bass is ignorant that's all. the itube can only be connected to one source, you can use it after the dac as a buffer if you'll upgrade to a bigger preamp later. it uses a ge nos tube which is great for bass .

@yannick930

4 жыл бұрын

@@yaniv-nos-tubes I like the kind of bass needed for EDM. I can't liste to a Hans Zimmer BO with tubes. No tube can provide that fine definition in the bass region. I've tried many since. Same result, it is present and loud but never as quick and define as solid state. I like it non the less, with non amplified instrument it's more natural. Feels like real drums in my room.

Sound clips demonstrating even order vs odd order harmonics might be a great addition

So if I like things like Thundercat, Mac Miller, queens of the stone age, MGMT, and a style like Awaken My love by Childish gambino...for their bass, I would be most likely to like a transistor amp rather than a tube amp?

I'm curious, if you guys have heard either the PS Audio BHK amplifier, or the Bob Carver Raven tube monoblocks. I'd be curious to get your take on either.

@Audiofreak71

4 жыл бұрын

isaacsykes3 yes I have , I have a friend who has the PS audio BHK amp , he first had it paired with the BHK pre amp but didn’t like the sound, I thought it was outstanding. However, he then bought a Halcro D10 pre amp and the level was elevated by a wide margin, the sound is like sticking your head into the recording studio . From top to bottom the sound is outstanding imo , his speakers are JBL 4367’s .

@isaacsykes3

4 жыл бұрын

@@Audiofreak71 Wow! Thank you for that, and shout out to your friend on the JBL'S, I know some lone that has those behind an acoustically transparent screen in a hometheater...nice

@tlhuffman

4 жыл бұрын

@@Audiofreak71 Perhaps, but Halcro has no N. American distributors and currently makes only one product, the Eclipse, an absurdly expensive ($135,000) solid state power amplifier. Not really a option here.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

@@Audiofreak71 the bhk uses russian tubes,swapping to nos will give a better sound

@Audiofreak71

4 жыл бұрын

yaniv It Has NOS Tubes in it now and indeed it sounds much better .

Tubes if I can have my way.... point to point if I can go further ... NOS tubes if the the world is perfect. That said I can go analog like a vintage receiver and enjoy the music just fine... just not a fan of digital .

Feliks Envy with Elrog MO and a good NOS driver tube has amazing bass. I would say better than SS equivalent.

I fully agree all i've heard here. Tubes cannot amplify current without ratio transformers but tubes are technically better low-level signal or voltage-amplifiers which is all preamplifiers need & It's a shame power output tubes need (power-sagging & bass limiting) output-transformers*** to drive speakers by converting their voltage-drive into a current-drive in the dropping of their output impedance to a single figure. I reckon the best theoretical combo is a tubed pre & power-amp with all voltage gain stages being tubes & feeding a final but fully transistor power-output stage, if that was near-perfectly designed, then it would be near-unbeatable i reckon. (*** the output transformer-less ones need loads of paralleled tubes or a much compromised circuitry with tons of feedback to bring their output impedance down into a single figure (if any actually do?! despite their binding post labels) anyway, the ones i heard had much better bass but were sharp & edgy higher up. There is a new'ish design of tube amp where the music signal modulates a very high-frequency (well beyond audio-band) carrier wave through a filter network & cleverly side-steps the need for output transformers, i've not seen or heard one but it seems theoretically promising. Tubes unlike transistors are very microphonic & one theory is that people prefer them because the speaker's sound arriving back at the tubes is then part amplified to cause a delay reverb effect ...but tubes sound gr8 late at night on very-quiet so i don't buy it

I find some of the comments over generalized and misleading. Bass out of tube amp is not always slow and plodding, nor the midrange cloying. It depends on the power supply, circuit design and the type of tube it uses. If you want these things yeah, a flea powered 300b or EL 34 based amp will be rich in the midrange but anemic in the low end. However, a well-designed beast from the likes of Audio Research, VTL, VAC, PrimaLuna as well as many other makes are going to give you the accuracy and slam akin to SS gear. Especially, when outfitted with things like the 6550, KT-88, KT-120, and KT-150 power tubes. To my ear even the KT-88 outfitted current generation of McIntosh 275's have the control and slam of similarly powered SS gear. From what I auditioned there are two types of tube sound. The old school 300b presentation from the likes of Decware and the modern KT-150 designs from the likes of Audio Research.

I still own a counterpoint amp (totally forgot about it) in a closet, along with a dynaco rebranded amp. Yup, back then Quicksilver was beyond my reach. The thing that's most important is: Tube amps look sexiest, so... That makes the brain think they sound better. Thanks guys!

*nothing beats a Candle system from Consumer's*

There is definitely something very enjoyable in tube sound. Would not want to miss that but would much prefer a tube pre and a solid state pure class a amp to power the speakers.

@Audfile

2 жыл бұрын

Most people suggest class D for real power, unless you are loaded with cash and have good air conditioning for a *real* class A amp.

@beslemeto

2 жыл бұрын

@@Audfile Why would we have air conditioner for class A amp?My class A amp doesn't get hot at all!

It depends on your Budget of course a High End Tubes cost ten times than the High End Solid States also what Speakers they are Hooked Up to

I heard super bass and slam on tubes. Cayin at50/zesto. And 211 tubes. Driving not so easy load. The difference is bandwith(transparency) with tubes and ss. And triode sound mainly from tubes besides vfet. Triode euphoric 2nd harmonic distortion nature. There is great and bad examples on both camp. I even heard good pro class d equipment that sound better than some tubes..

Simple.... turn on each amp and short the outputs.... which one will survive ?

@bones007able

4 жыл бұрын

@@adrianlow2114 You normally wouldn't.... but accidents can happen and if the outputs are not fused , the transistors go bye bye...

Perhaps people with tastes on one side of neutral like tube or class A/ish vs people who prefer eg class D amps. Thanks for video.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

perhaps but not really

I enjoy both ... they are different. Tubes do give that dry airy holographic sound. Solid state gives that clear sound with a tight bass. That’s why I got both 😬

@nostro1001

4 жыл бұрын

And different interactions of either can sound very different!!

@hushpuppykl

4 жыл бұрын

nostro1001 ... when I’m lazy, it’s just the SS integrated. If want to have some serious listening it’s the tube preamp into the SS integrated as a power amp. 😬

@nostro1001

4 жыл бұрын

@@hushpuppykl oh I'm hearing ya. 😎 very nice!!! Happy listening

@hushpuppykl

4 жыл бұрын

nostro1001 ... have a great weekend!

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

the word "dry" belongs to ss ,harsh also

Tube pre + SS amp for the win

@davidvuong8115

4 жыл бұрын

Greg Bartz how about solid pre + tube amp

@1wired4sound

4 жыл бұрын

David Vuong never heard such a setup so can’t comment

@commane21

4 жыл бұрын

Or, I have an integrated amp, with tubes as preamp and ss amp. It's a Jolida.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

@@adrianlow2114 it could also work very nicely if you know what you are doing

@onmywatch9165

3 жыл бұрын

Same here... tube pre and ss amp on small scale setup!

You just got a new sub!

The bummer part is the tubes are as expensive as the equipment

Tube pre + AB class amp here

Tube amps more musical. They are not practical though. As for the combo of tube pre-amp and SS amp I have heard this recommendation for a long time. Same for tube for mids/highs and SS for bass. Not that easy finding the right combo though. I prefer a pre-amp and amp from same manufacturer. They were made to be run together and produce best sound. Class AB is good in that low volume it’s playing in Class A and then higher you get the best of both worlds. Don’t have to worry about maintenance. It’s just lifestyle preference. Canada guys know their shit related to home audio because it’s too cold to go out. 😂 For me it’s balance. I prefer driving my Ferrari more vs listening to my home audio. Due to Covid19 and watching vids on home audio has some of the internet come back.

I'd rather say ......transistors produce unpleasant distortions.... Good transistor amplifiers come close to good tube amplifiers........bad sounding amplifiers be it tube or transistor amplifiers are often praised by good looking test results and performance.....on glossy papers.. In the end a good amplifier connects you to music and you forget the electronics when listening .....tube have the advantage in absolute listening .......more like take you away on a emotional journey in the universe of what we call MUSIC.... I like some good transistors amps too...when the do the job !

@johto

2 жыл бұрын

Good comment. After i switched to flea watt single ended tube amp with sensitive Klipsch Heresy speakers, no more listening fatigue! Indeed, now i'm not distracted by the gear, but listen to the music ! ps. I do have solid state amp, but thats in the subwoofers 😎

The Krell KSA50/80's approach tube amps in terms of linearity. I had a friend that had a 50 - couldn't fault it.

Vtl pre and power

I prefer tubes sonically, but solid state is less hassle and more reliable

VTL amplifier 👍

Tube preamp and solid state power amp....Best of both worlds.

@hushpuppykl

4 жыл бұрын

The Musicman71 ... Yes!

In general tube amps have a warmer sound and aren't edgy New Audio Research Amps: Hold my beer

Tubes dont need large heat sinks. Doesnt this effectively make the trashsistor bigger than the tube? Publish the IHD on Trashsistor amps compared to tube amps and suddenly interest in distortion specs as indication of quality goes away.I had an Onkyo M506RS Mosfet 150 RMS that sounded gritty at high volume, and like alll trashsistor amps, stopped working. my tube amps dont and didnt stop working. How many trashsistors have failed compared to outright failures of tubes ? Just the fact that the amp sound comes up slowly and turns off slowly has got me sold. Oh did I mention they sound better? lol. Oh did you know the tubes actually last longer than you think they do? all of these dirt cheap 13em7 tubes still work after 10 years!! i have 2 mono amps that put out 3.5 watts a piece. the only problem I had is 2 burned out resistors and and one bad bypass caps in power amp cathode circuit, which I quickly fixed and the resistors 1 was a carbon composition. These amps are high quality push-pull class a triodes only (no pentodes) The design was based on a cheaper, tiny little minimalist amp. 2 tubes only with 2 disimilar triodes in each tube. Ive been working on replacement of these 2 tube amps, but these amps are loud enough that I have to turn the volume knob down. I wont ever own a trashsistor amp again.The amps with just 2 tubes in a amp are all I need now. The design uses one triode drivng. a bigger triode in the same glass tube, from line level input. The design of this original amp would fit in the palm of your hand!! i added much bigger output transformer and it is still small enough to hold in your hand. the amps sit on top and power Klipsche RF 7-II speakers. The secret to low distortion is voltage regulated bias on output tube because bias point is very accurate. Design based on Miniblok II by Fred Nachbaur. His design and I gave it life as a suitable high-fi amp. I could die before I finish my transformer coupled 300B voltage regulated bias class A push-pull amp, but im not missing class a triode quality. Class A push pull triode with accurate bias and transformer coupling is all you will ever need. I have heard Mcintosh stereos in a studio setup and this simple amp compares to that quality.

The Bitter Truth Is That Tubes Producing Something Special Than Soild State So My Critical Music Listening Experiences I Realized That Tubes Sound Quality Is More " Natural & Warmer " Than Soild States That's Why World's Most Critical Music Listeners Using Vacuum Tubes Than Soild State.

definitely tube pre, I have a hybrid tube/mosfet Power amp. great combo! as a headphone amp, otl tube all the way!

I use a modified Audio Research tube preamp and I can't say I've ever heard a solid state preamp with better bass. My amps are hybrid with tube outputs.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

you really took it seriously? they also say that tubes lacks dynamics and power ,so what? this kid listens to michael bolton, no clue about good music either...

Just be aware, when using a tube pre-amp feeding a ss amp, coupling caps, in most cases, need to be installed on the amp input to stop DC leaks, which can trash everything! Unfortunately, this degrades the sound!

@Scottlp2

4 жыл бұрын

Really? I have prima Luna pre amp into powersound amp. I’ll have to see what manufacturers say.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

no they don't. where did you come up with that?

@mkshffr4936

2 жыл бұрын

Not generally true. With older equipment that was not designed with SS in mind there can be problems or with equipment in need of repair. In the won't sound right category many vintage preamps have fairly high output impedance since the power amps of the era had input impedances in the hundreds of kilo ohms as opposed to the current amps with Zin as low as 10K. Thus many preamps had no follower on the output and smaller output caps. Also output levels may be quite different than current standards. In the you might break something category tube equipment is much more tolerant of large voltage transients so much of the tube gear was not built with clamping circuits or protection relays. If the preamp has old leaky output caps a very high DC voltage may exist on the output that delicate transistors can't handle. All these things can be dealt with but you need to test your gear for DC offset and transients and then always turn source and preamp on first and the the PA last after a few seconds. Turn off in reverse order.

Tubes ... Always

Where did you get the no Bass thing from, you are listening to the wrong Tube Amps. Even though there is no physics to back it up I always find that the power of a decent tube amp of the similar rated output to have more weight behind those Watts. It's tangible for me. Tube amps needn't be soft or slow just do your homework listen to combinations and speaker matches. Find that synergy and you may never go back after experiencing a well balanced well designed Tube Amp.

Philip, You said tubes naturally produce even harmonics and transistors naturally produce odd harmonics. I'm fairly certain this is not accurate. You also gave as an example of odd harmonics, "1st and 3rd". The 1st harmonic is the fundamental which is what we try to accurately reproduce in an amplifier. Perhaps you meant 3rd and 5th. In a push-pull configuration both solid state and tube amps will produce more odd harmonics because the push-pull stages will significantly cancel even harmonics.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

i know for a fact that pass labs ss amps had a pot that increases even order harmonics .but i don't take these guys seriously.

I have both and love them both.But use tubes for l for my older Speakers..Advents,Dyancos,ARs.and SS amp for my Polk 707s ,Klipschs ,Yamaha's .

Film or digital? Black and white or color. Really guys. Love your channel, but this one is a bit much.

Of course solid state can be hugely better. I bet all your music already is produced using solid state signal path...so what the heck do you imagine a tube can do somewhere among the 100+ transistors that your music has already endured? A pre-amp with line input and line output can add some musical distortion using a tube...especially if you are clipping the signal. Great, if that's what you want.

like

any audio setup that's based on a digital source benefits from tubes, missing that is impossible if you have ears. since 1991 means never had a proper nos tube ?never heard any? that explains everything. how could you miss the most important thing about tubes ? why do they still use them if they are so inferior? back in 1985 luxman had a cd player with a tube output stage, that was their way getting their known smooth and warm sound when cd was at it's harshest point (like mp3's , spotify or youtube in today's terms).

If you want to enjoy music, forget measurements.

Three reasons why i would never buy another tube amp,the weight ,the price and the limited warranty on tubes. These things did not even rate a mention in your discussion. In any event, it's all foot pedals today not so much tube amps. It's not so much the amp, it's the pedals being produced today

Tubes with good neutral, balanced speakers wins every time. Not warmer, just better, and better deeper BASS. Get it right. Tubes blow away solid state at any wattage. Get over the wpc bull, just listen.

In the lowest frequencies where deep bass is, tubes really dont do a great job regardless of price. They can't even go as low solid state. Also, tubes are microphonic. Tubes are fine in a pre-amp. Not great for the amplifier state. They also dont handle low impedance well. For example, Not a good choice with a Totem speaker.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

please say chinese tubes not all tubes. you are correct they are crap try nos if you want decent sound

did they use the green light to hide the made in china stickers on the tubes? nice...

Solid state has ruled for decades. Nowadays we can use DSPs to make the sort of even harmonic distortion that tubes can do well, but without any wear out deterioration of the sound and better optimized...or we run the sound clean without such distortion. Soft clipping (what often can cause transistor amps to sound hard with uneven harmonics) is also possible with transistor amps and has been for ages. But tubes look cool.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

that ignorance again... how old are you 14?

@ThinkingBetter

4 жыл бұрын

yaniv I was 14 long ago and work in audio engineering professionally. Tubes are great for high-end audio business and marketing. If you want the most precise analog signal amplification not prone to burn-in and wear-out issues, solid state has been the much better way for ages. Yes, it’s easy to make “tube sound” in a DSP and if your DSP runs at a high sample rate and resolution, it can do a much better tube sound than actual tubes with no degradation over time. Don’t get fooled by marketing snake oil.

Solid state is much better and the sort of musical even harmonics that tubes can add is possible to make with a DSP if you really enjoy it. In fact a DSP can make tube sound much better than a tube due to no need for warming it up and no variance by time. Furthermore, a DSP tube emulator can be fine tuned to your favorite tube distortion. Personally I prefer no added distortion.

@yaniv-nos-tubes

4 жыл бұрын

the home theater forum is better for you

Jay needs to humble himself.

Lets just stop and analyze this. Modern solid state amps are designed to produce the absolute most linear audio slope possible. Tube amps are not! So if we start from a modern amplifier's linear service, all we have to do is introduce that wonderful tube's 2nd harmonic quality early in the amplification channel! A saturated-tube circuit does the job! Its really that simple!

@siriosstar4789

28 күн бұрын

@makariv - 😂😄🤣🤪 spoken like a true resident of the Rabbit Hole .

"tubes have a scale that is human sized" totally laughable. Tubes have a sound signature that old folks were brain washed into as kids and current kids are buying vinyl because retro is a fad. Audiophiles who prefer tubes and vinyl should be more honest. Human beings have subjective preferences and if they want to listen to tubes and vinyl they certainly can but never try to say they have "better sound" because it is nonsense.

@JVMC_ZR1

3 жыл бұрын

Most Audiophiles prefer Analog over Digital though. By today's standards, solid state analog amps, should sound as good if not better than tube amps.