[sleepkyng]

Well, it's been a while since i've lurked in these here forums and i must say that, as a poor young college student, i was quite happy with my digital amp setup. I've had all sorts of gear but as I just graduated, I sold all of it - the pro-ject tt, the amps, the speakers, everything.

now I'm wanting to start anew by returning to tubes - my first hifi endeavor was the antique sound labs mono blocks of old.

I'm in search of a great tube setup on a slim budget - something nice, pretty and cheap.

here's the skinny - $500 total - speakers, cables and amps

best 2-channel tube system in that price range

any takers?

[Zero]

Sleepkyng -  Unless you happen upon an incredible deal on a high performance vintage piece of tube electronics, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment. I'd suggest dropping the idea of buying a tube component at this price and instead focus on the solid state side of things. With that said; assuming you already have a source (be it a dvd/cd player or a computer)...  I'd look at bringing home either a used Harman Kardon 3470 or 3480 stereo receiver. They can be had anywhere between $100 - 170 on ebay. Both pieces, the recent vintage 3470 in particular - is a surprisingly adept performer that gives you quite a bit of musical goods for the money. Going to integrated units or separates from the likes of NAD / ROTEL / ADCOM / Cambridge / etc etc.. will not yield any significant gains of performance at this ultra low price-point.

You can pass on these savings into a pair of speakers that suit your fancy. One of my go-to suggestions is the Onix XLS monitors. For the price, they leave little to be desired. Great looks. Great build. Great sound. Great customer support. Incredibly versatile and easy-to-listen to presentation. You can buy these speakers and still have plenty of money left over for stands and spiffy cables from the likes of blue jeans, zu cable and signal cable just to name a few.

Thats how I'd go about it if I had to put together a musical system at/under $500 with readily available components. Either way you fly- good luck.

[Cacophonix]

I agree with A6M-ZERO.

$500 for a tube setup is a very very tight budget.

Alternative:
If you are adept at DIY, build yourself a bob brines FT1600MKII ($25 plans + ~$200 worth of materials).
For amp, get a used Teac Tripath Amp (~$100) or get a trends audio integrated. And use ur laptop/PC as the source.

[sleepkyng]

i was looking on audiogon at the sophia baby sets, no good?

[HT cOz]

I would poke around the Hawthorne Audio website.  You could find some used Silver Iris and buy a Spud Tube Kit for about that price.  That assumes you can use a computer for your front end. 

[IronLion]

I second the X-LS suggestion, as well as the Zu Cable suggestion.  I have a pair of X-LS's that I started my system with, they have since been moved to HT duty as my left and right channels and replaced by Zu Tones, but still, every time I play videogames or watch a movie through the X-LS's I'm still amazed at how good they sound.  I recommend them to anybody who is just getting into the hobby.  The way I have mine setup in my HT is pretty close to the rear wall, and I feel I don't even need a sub with them, as they provide clear and clean impactful bass this way. 

[acresm22]

I'll toss out another option...

For the amp, call Gabe Velez and have him build you one of his Mag-SE03 amps ( http://members.tripod.com/~gabevee/ ). These are single-ended EL84 amps that are based on an old Magnavox circuit and put out about 3 watts/ch. I've never heard any of Gabe's amps, but he's been around a while, has a good reputation and is a very nice guy. $299 (I did talk with Gabe last winter, and he said the SE09 looks very much like his 300B amp, pictured at the site...except it has skinny el84s instead of big ol' 300Bs).

Another option is to call Boris at Vista Audio...he has offered some single-ended EL84 amps on his site in the past for about that same price, give or take. Don't know if he'd still build you one, but he's another one who has a great reputation for quality tube amps for not much money.

For the speakers, I've heard and read favorable things about Tekton Design. He is based in Utah and builds single-driver fostex models in various shapes and sizes. His smaller version using the fe127 driver goes for under $300 I think. He sells on ebay...do a search for Tekton Design.

For cables, buy a pair of 1m RCA DT3A interconnects (try ebay again). Speaker cables...orange and black Home Depot extension cord.

Dan

[Scott F.]

If it were my money I'd pick up a restored HH Scott 299 or 222 ($300 ebay). Make sure that the power supply diodes and the main power supply caps have been changed as a minimum. Then I'd pick up a pair of Large Advents or Dynaco A-25's ($159 ebay). I'd use your audio output from your computer to feed FLAC files via Foobar the Scott.

Oh, I forgot speaker wire. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up the direct burial wiring used for low voltage lighting (in 12 gau) and use that as speaker wire (50' roll for about $12)(then go to Radio shack and pick up some crimp on fork terminals for $1 and use them as terminations). Then I'd pick up a pair of AR interconnects for $19 and be done with it. If need be, use concrete blocks as speaker stands.

Once you save some more money, look for a nice Dual 1229 at Goodwill (abt $25), then start buying vinyl there too for $1 ea.


There you have it. All in for under your $500 budget. It gets you off the high end merry-go-round and puts right smack dab into the middle of your music, just where you want to be. Just so you are aware, that system kicks major booty for the money. I know, I've had several versions of it over the years.

Trust me on this one. 

[sleepkyng]

This is great info! I think a thread like this is helpful to a lot of young hifi kids like me.
what strikes me is all of the possibilities - there isn't just ONE answer.

has anyone heard those tekton speakers vs. the onix ones?

cheers


my setup before i left college:

totem rokks - teac tripath - melos sha 1 - art dio mod dac

with diy cables between it all.

[jon_010101]

If it were my money I'd pick up a restored HH Scott 299 or 222 ($300 ebay). Make sure that the power supply diodes and the main power supply caps have been changed as a minimum. Then I'd pick up a pair of Large Advents or Dynaco A-25's ($159 ebay). I'd use your audio output from your computer to feed FLAC files via Foobar the Scott.

Oh, I forgot speaker wire. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up the direct burial wiring used for low voltage lighting (in 12 gau) and use that as speaker wire (50' roll for about $12)(then go to Radio shack and pick up some crimp on fork terminals for $1 and use them as terminations). Then I'd pick up a pair of AR interconnects for $19 and be done with it. If need be, use concrete blocks as speaker stands.

Once you save some more money, look for a nice Dual 1229 at Goodwill (abt $25), then start buying vinyl there too for $1 ea.

Excellent advice -- this is exactly what I was thinking. 

A Scott 222/299, Sherwood S-5000, Dynaco SCA35, or Stromberg Carlson (check out eBay item #290151843096) driving A25s will blow away a LOT of modern tube setups.  If one doesn't have room for A25s, or prefers to use modern speakers, then the AV123 X-ls would be perfect. 

Best to find an amp that's already been serviced, however, unless you are good with a soldering iron.  Old capacitors do fail eventually, and it's best to replace them before that happens.  I've not heard ANY $300-500 modern tube amps that can compete with these classics (once they've been restored).

[JLM]

The $500 budget, unless you do lots of DIY or score old stuff on ebay/audiogon, is unrealistic.

The Oppo 970 universal player is really good quality for $160 delivered.  It comes volume control and full feature remote.

Even the "classic" Bottlehead S.E.X. 2 wpc tube power amp kit is $369.

Look for EV-8 or EV-12 coaxial drivers (vintage, very good efficiency, may need repair, would work in a simple/easy open baffle).

This totals about $600 plus cabling and some kind of rack.  And it'd still be bare bones.

Or,

Pick up a $120 Trends 10.1 digital amp instead and stretch to the $300/pair Hawthorne Silver Iris (96 dB/w/m, add your own open baffle, if you have the room) or perhaps the Tekton with the 6.5 inch Fostex driver.  Then save up for something like the $750 AltaVista amp.

[lonewolfny42]

has anyone heard those tekton speakers vs. the onix ones?

Here's a thread on the Tekton speakers....Link....

[S Clark]

Pick up a pair of Eico HF12's at 12 watts each for just over $200, then build a set of speakers  from kits or plans.  Check out designs by Dennis Murphy http://murphyblaster.com/content.php?f=main.html
Danny Richie of GR Research http://www.gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=102
or perhaps Zaph's http://www.zaphaudio.com/BAMTM.html
This should set you up with significantly better than midfi sound.

[skite30]

You might want to go to six moons audio and read the article on the zigmahornet system. For under 300 dollars you can put together a nice system. For a tube amp there is one for sale in the classifieds at audio asylum it's a Bell 3030 for 200 a very nice amp at that price.

[sleepkyng]

thanks for all the replies, guys.

it seems like either the super t amp or the trex usb amp are looking to be good choices.

[jcrane]

What about a used Bottlehead Foreplay and a Tamp, should be able to find for less than $200 then grab a pair of Xls for 220 and you have 80 bucks left for the speaker wire and connections that Scott recommended.
I had this setup and was very happy with the the Foreplay + Tamp combo with the Xls.
Just a thought

Jamie

[gychang]

You might want to go to six moons audio and read the article on the zigmahornet system. For under 300 dollars you can put together a nice system. For a tube amp there is one for sale in the classifieds at audio asylum it's a Bell 3030 for 200 a very nice amp at that price.

I agree with skite30, I built zigmahornet and sounds excellent, their recommendation of super-T amp should be excellent, indeed.

gychang

[DaveC113]

I just changed my system by adding a Trends T-amp and Omega XRS speakers (4.5" single driver). This combo is very good, I'd bet the Tektons with a Trends would work well too. The Trends amp responds well to mods, if you use a $20 SLA battery to power it and get a better volume pot you'll have one heck of an amp for single driver speakers. I've also heard the Trends drive Maxhemps (8" single driver) with excellent results. I don't only like single driver speakers, but the ones I've heard have given great bang for the buck and are a good match for inexpensive low powered T-amps. 

Dave

[exerciseguy]

I also would opt for the Trends TA-10.1, it's that good, At $149, you'd be hard pressed to do better.

I own a pair of Tekton 4.5. that work extremely well with the Trends, but at about $325 they are a bit pricey given the budget. The Tektons also lend themselves to vocals & acoustic guitar, if thumpy electronic or orchestral music is your thing, I would suggest you look elsewhere.

Instead then, I might opt for these $99 Acoustic Research ARXP62 http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4029539&JRSource=nsa&nsa=1 , a ridiculously capable speaker that is competitive with anything under $500.

Others to consider are:

The Boston Acoustics CR57 for $60 http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=87473
The Infinity Primus P152 for $98 http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Primus-Single-bookshelf-speaker/dp/B000LKC37W
The Athena Technologies Audition AS-B1.2 for $99 http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ATASB1%2E2

As for the front end, I would agree that the OPPO DV-970HD for $131 is a great choice http://cgi.ebay.com/OPPO-DV-970HD-HDMI-Upconverting-Universal-DVD-Player_W0QQitemZ120159989712QQihZ002QQcategoryZ15077QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem , but you might also want to consider Trends other gem, the $130 UD-10 USB DAC mated to an old computer with a big hard drive, and store & listen to your music in a lossless format. http://www.audiomagus.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=19&flypage=shop.flypage_modern&product_id=3&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=27&vmcchk=1 . Then there's also the option of using a dock MP3/iPod with a line out hooked-up in a similar fashion.

The Pioneer DV-578A is another universal player with excellent audio performance that can routinely be had for about $50 on eBay.

I would keep all cables strictly "budget", Parts Express is a great source for quality cables.