[electriceye]

Just seeing if anyone has any recommendations for hopefully under $2,000 combined but I could possibly stretch a little. Open to doing an integrated or pre amp and stereo amp or mono blocks. I would probably need it to be a kit form as I've built two guitar pedals (one fairly complex) and two sets of speakers so I'm somewhat experienced but would definitely need some instructions and customer service to help at times.

I was looking at the oddwatt and tubes 4 hifi stuff but definitely down to look at others!

[morganc]

Tyson loves the hifitubes EL-84 Amp and I trust his ears though I haven't heard it myself.

 
And the Pre amps they have are highly regarded as well if I'm not mistaken.  I have a Don Sachs Pre which I believe  is based on the same circuit.

[electriceye]

That looks great! Is 17 watts enough for the nx studio? I believe they are 89 db efficiency.

[morganc]

I don't think that willl be enough power, I failed to realize the Sensitivity is that low for the monitors. 

[opnly bafld]

17 watts would be plenty for me, for someone else. 

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I know the NX-Tremes are a little more effecient at 92Db, but a 7watt tube amp was plenty of power to drive them. And if youre using the studios in a more near-field setup then 17W should be more than plenty.

[electriceye]

Thanks for the replies, leaning towards vta-st70 (probably cap upgrade) with a sp12 preamp but maybe stretching to sp14. I need a bit of headroom, small room (not near field) now but would like to future proof myself for a slightly bigger room. I'm pushing 200 watts class d into them now with a nuprime ida-16 and I run it at 45 - 50 percent volume, sounds great but I've wanted to go back to tubes for a while now.

[corndog71]

The VTA amps are a great choice.  I have both the 120 and M125 amps.  I also built the SP13 which is just like the 14 but with 6CG7 tubes.  It’s a great tube preamp.

[Capt Crunch]

I have the VTA -70 that I built. It was my first ever attempt at doing anything like that. Get all the upgrades for it. I run 6550 Tung-Sol tubes and NOS 12au's in mine. You only have to run the center and not all 3 if you like to save a bit of money. 7316's are pricey, but imho worth it. Or if you want a bit more, get the 120. Corndog could offer a better comparison since he has both.

Oh, and I would get a weller soldiering iron (small tip) if you want excellent joints. Each day I worked on mine I went back over all the previous steps I put together and it came out good. Chasing a bad joint is not an easy task.

[ssglx]

I've been using an Audio Note Kits EL84 amp for several months now and its terrific integrated. Stated 17.5 w/ch, but it drives my 81 db (KEF) and 87 db (Soliloquy) monitor speakers quite well.
With the stock tubes, its clean, transparent and has strong and satisfying bass.

The relative who built it for me said the kit was very designed, and the finished product is very high quality.

Chris

[tom739]

Question for corndog,
I have the VTA-ST70, with 6CA7 output tubes. Besides more power, any better sound going up to VTA-ST120? If I went to the VTA-120, I would go with KT120 tubes. I am guessing the sound difference would mostly come from the diff tubes. What do you think?

Also, anyone use the octal driver option for the VTA amps?

[Tyson]

Question for corndog,
I have the VTA-ST70, with 6CA7 output tubes. Besides more power, any better sound going up to VTA-ST120? If I went to the VTA-120, I would go with KT120 tubes. I am guessing the sound difference would mostly come from the diff tubes. What do you think?

Also, anyone use the octal driver option for the VTA amps?

I've had both and the Octal board sounds much better.  Octals always do, IME. 

The ST70 is nice because you can roll just about any pentode in it - EL34, 6CA7, KT66, KT77, KT88, 6550, etc... but I don't believe you can do that with the ST120.  Of course with the ST120 you get more power.  So it's a trade off. 

[tom739]

Thanks for the info Tyson. Instead of changing to st-120 amp, maybe I should try different tubes. I read a positive review of the Genalex Gold Lion KT77. Looks interesting....

[corndog71]

Question for corndog,
I have the VTA-ST70, with 6CA7 output tubes. Besides more power, any better sound going up to VTA-ST120? If I went to the VTA-120, I would go with KT120 tubes. I am guessing the sound difference would mostly come from the diff tubes. What do you think?

Also, anyone use the octal driver option for the VTA amps?

I started my tube amp journey with an ST70.  I used Curcio’s driver circuit and it sounded great.  Later I built a pair of Mk4 amps and loved those too.  I too was curious if the KT88 tubes would sound better so I sold/traded my EL34 amps and got the VTA120.

The answer really depends on your speakers.  If you’re building any of Danny’s current speakers then what you have is really all you need.  I doubt you would hear much if any difference from the bigger tubes.  You get a little more power and headroom but it’s not really that noticeable unless you have hard to drive speakers. 

With my current speakers I have the opposite problem.  My bigger amps have too much gain and raise my noise levels too much.  I’m actually looking to build another VTA70 with the octal drivers.  So stay tuned for that.

If you want to try the Gold Lion tubes then I recommend Jim McShane. 

One thing to be aware of with using bigger tubes in an ST70.  It better have the bigger modern power transformer.  The original PT will not like the bigger tubes.

[tom739]

Thanks for that info. I don't know if my power transformer is original, I did not build this. Here is a pic of the inside.

[corndog71]

Doesn’t look like an original.  Can you show me the top?

Here’s an original.



And here’s a modern version. (Taller)

[mick wolfe]

I've had a Bob Latino ST70 for years. This is the original 12AT7 version. The only upgrades I've had done recently are a fresh set of Russian PIO caps and the self bias board. This amp has run nothing but either GL or Psvane KT88's for over a decade with no issue whatsoever. This amp had no trouble driving original Salk Songtowers in a decent sized room, so I'm "guessing" it could easily drive the GR Studio's in a small environment. In fact, I'll be using a 22 watt 845 based SET with the GR Studio's in my small room.
In regard to the 6SN7 octal board, I've been told Bob no longer offers it. Supposedly stresses the ST70 transformer a bit beyond its limit. I'll leave that one for others to debate. That said, may be more comfortable in the ST120. 

[mick wolfe]

And FWIW, pre-amp used with the ST70 is a Schiit Freya+ with ANOS GE's.

[corndog71]

In regard to the 6SN7 octal board, I've been told Bob no longer offers it. Supposedly stresses the ST70 transformer a bit beyond its limit. I'll leave that one for others to debate. That said, may be more comfortable in the ST120. 

This is also an original transformer issue.  The original PT was spec’d for 2 driver tubes.  The VTA boards with three 12AT7or 12AU7 driver tubes are still within that spec but the 6SN7 tubes draw more heater current.  The newer PT are spec’d for more current so the use of 6SN7 tubes is no longer a problem.  You can get a newer PT from dynakitparts.com.

[Tyson]

This is also original transformer issue.  The original PT was spec’d for 2 driver tubes.  The VTA boards with three 12AT7or 12AU7 driver tubes are still within that spec but the 6SN7 tubes draw more heater current.  The newer PT are spec’d for more current so the use of 6SN7 tubes is no longer a problem.  You can get a newer PT from dynakitparts.com.

That's correct - the newer versions of the VTA ST70 come with the larger power transformer and they handle the octal board just fine.