[2bigears]

   SS is not an upgrade ??  Battery gear ??  Does battery gear have the goods for old rock ???? 

[JLM]

Regarding batteries:  Power reserve is usually more of a concern for dynamics (big classical stuff, not the relatively steady volume of rock music).  How loud is a factor of watts per channel, room size, and speaker efficiency.  How long it will run depends on battery size/type.

How do you know you have "dirty" power (aberration is the technically correct term)?  I've heard it (or the lack of it late night when nearby industry shut down for the night via an old grid and removed the thick haze from the music).  But even in a 50 year old house with crummy overhead wires, a well respected power "reprocessor" barely made a difference.  Trying battery powered integrated amp and DAC provided zero improvement that I could hear (the DAC had an A/C versus battery switch).  Others here at A/C confirmed my findings.

If you want a new SS integrated, the Redgum is the real sleeper here IMO and the opinions of other A/Cer's (do a search).

[Letitroll98]

Hey boys isn't this the cheap n cheerful circle? I'd go with serviced vintage gear from the seventies. I bet those speakers with a 30 watt Marantz would sound sweet. $200 to $500 and beautiful. Just sayin

Yeah, kinda what I was leading toward.  The thread really needs to go to All Solid State at this point.

[jarcher]

Have to agree w/ quietearth : if you think you might have a AC quality issues, best to address that than just trying to swap one component that might hopefully better deal w/ lower quality AC.  This can be achieved successfully for far below the budget you referenced.  I know I have w/ dedicated power lines, high quality receptacles, power strips, and power cables.  Not as fun / sexy as a new amp, but it's definitely paid dividends.

W/ that said, the list Leitroll put out of integrated amps is very solid & what I would have referenced (w/ maybe the Krell 400xi vs the S-300i).  I have a Rega Mira 3 for sale here at only $500 which was in it's day a stereophile "b" class component if you want to give a good SS integrated a try at little money.  But as much as I'd like to sell it - I'd have to say that spending the money on dealing w/ the power issues would be the better first step.

[Quiet Earth]

    I have a VAC Avatar Super and i am lighting off the last tube to the right.. that sounds like an amp problem.. i'm so lazy to send it 3000 miles and i don't have the box.

Ok, that is a lot more specific and I think repairing what you have is where you need to focus your energy first. I'm not saying you shouldn't upgrade, but you need to establish a problem free baseline before you move forward.

I don't know what you mean by " lighting off " the last tube to the right. Do you mean it does not glow at all? Did you check the bias of the questionable tube?  Have you tried swapping the questioable tube with one of the other tubes in the amp to see if the problem follows the tube, or if the problem stays in that socket of the amp? Make sure you re-check the bias if you do swap tubes. (One idea would be to exchange the left tubes with the right tubes and rebias all of them.)

Is the amp out of warrantee? If it is, I would drive it to a local repair shop instead of shipping it. Most decent tube repair centers can fix an amp like yours since there are more similarities than differences.

Plus, if you want to sell it to upgrade, you probably need to get it fixed anyway.

Last but not least,,,,
Your amp looks as good or better than most of the suggestions here.  I think a repair would be a more cost effective solution (cheaper and cheerful.), and at least you would know where you stand before you do upgrade.

[opnly bafld]

Is the amp out of warrantee? If it is, I would drive it to a local repair shop instead of shipping it. Most decent tube repair centers can fix an amp like yours since there are more similarities than differences.

That might be a 1,000 mile drive* for him. 

*each way!

[2bigears]

   yes,, the repair shop is 600 miles down the road..
       the bias seems to creep up on that tube,go way out of adjustment or hot,,
  the amp blows the tube and main fuse.. it's always that same location .. far right tube of the 4 88's......
        running outta tubes and 5 amp fuses.....
           i just put the blame on very dirty AC.....

[SteveFord]

Your local FedEx shipper can't be all that far away, can it?
That's a nice piece, get it fixed.

[shadowlight]

2bigears,

have you tried any of the liebert or similar ups devices which basically feed your amp completely through battery?  not sure if they will help or not but might be cheaper to purchase a liebert off ebay and give it a shot.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=70904.20
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=89212.0

[2bigears]

  looking into this UPS thing.. might be the ticket here with our lumpy power.... thanks much....

[Quiet Earth]

  yes,, the repair shop is 600 miles down the road..
       the bias seems to creep up on that tube,go way out of adjustment or hot,,
  the amp blows the tube and main fuse.. it's always that same location .. far right tube of the 4 88's......
        running outta tubes and 5 amp fuses.....
           i just put the blame on very dirty AC.....

It sounds to me like you have two separate issues to troubleshoot, the incoming AC power and the circuitry surrounding that far right socket in the amp. You're gonna have to address each one of them anyway, so why not send the amp out for repair while you investigate what's wrong with your AC? Shipping something that big can be a real pain, but if you put your mind to it, I know you can do it. Might be expensive though...... not cheap or cheerful.

I hope you get it all sorted out man. 

[Rclark]

  SS is not an upgrade ??  Battery gear ??  Does battery gear have the goods for old rock ???? 

absolutely. And then some.

[bummrush]

Buy the Van Alstine and music with the rest of the money.

[tesseract]

Love my Exposure 2010S passive pre integrated. So have the guys I loaned it to, each wants to buy it if I sell.

Not looking to sell.

[surdy]

  good points indeed QE..   I have a VAC Avatar Super and i am lighting off the last tube to the right.. that sounds like an amp problem.. i'm so lazy to send it 3000 miles and i don't have the box. i was just thinking of a simple solution of new, improved ????    of course i could be wrong .......  like your financial advisor speaks as you walk out the door ...

Would love to take this off your hands!