Do you use tubes in your system?

warnerwh · « **on:** 12 Aug 2005, 04:24 am »

Just curious as to who has been using tubes in their systems with their Vmps speakers. Also if you use SS I'd like to know if you have tried tubes. My system is SS. Krell KRC-3 preamp, Innersound ESL amp and a Marantz SA8260 cd player. In my case I had been using an Audio Research LS 16 preamp and the sound was not as transparent or solid in the low end as I thought it should be. Tried the Krell and it's a much better match to my ears. If you've tried both I'd like to hear what you used and your opinions. Thanks

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Aug 2005, 04:36 am »

Hybrid tube and SS in my pre and my amp. AVA Transcendence 7 pre and 550exr amp. Very synergistic match.

buffer · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Aug 2005, 09:50 pm »

I use Lamm M1.1 amplifiers on mid/treble and Solid State Pass X350 on bass. My preamp is solidstate (Pass X0). I believe VMPS sounds excellent with tubes (on mids). However, the speakers (FF1SRE) seem to prefer lots of power (100 watts minimum) for loud, dynamic, rock.

hmen · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Aug 2005, 10:31 pm »

I use a pair of Atma-Sphere M60's with my RM2's. My pre-amp is a BAT VK30r so I'm running all tubes. The amps only put out 45 WPC into 4 ohms but that's plenty. I tried a Bel Canto Evo while my amp was in the shop and the bass was a little batter but the midrange and high-end couldn't compare.

woodsyi · « **Reply #4 on:** 16 Aug 2005, 04:08 pm »

Quote from: buffer

I use Lamm M1.1 amplifiers on mid/treble and Solid State Pass X350 on bass. My preamp is solidstate (Pass X0). I believe VMPS sounds excellent with tubes (on mids). However, the speakers (FF1SRE) seem to prefer lots of power (100 watts minimum) for loud, dynamic, rock.

I second the opinion that VMPS speakers excel with tubes on ribbons and ss on woofers. I have tried CJ MF200, Adcom GFA555II, Crown K2, eAR1001, Innersound ESL MKII, ARC VT100, ASL Hurricane and RA Extreme Hurricane on my RM40s. This past weekend I had a chance to visit John Casler at his place (and what a place! I will cover that on another post!

) and listened to his SoAs on his RM30s running full augmented by 4 larger subs lowpassed at 35 Hz powered by Cinenova (front 2) and another (lower power) ss amp for the rear subs. All that SS power and John's set up (The Tweaks!

) gave the tightest, the musicallest and the seamlessest bass that I have heard in a private home.

In fact he has inspired me to rearrange my subs to stand on their side with the 3 woofers on plane (more on that later).

On the other hand, I liked my Extreme Hurricanes on my ribbons better than John's SoA running full on his RM30s. On female vocal (Eva Cassidy on Field of Gold) I heard more sibilance on John's but bear in mind that we have different front end and room set up. My order of preference on my RM40s is Extreme Hurricanes, VT100, Innersound ESLMKII, eAR1001 in that order for the ribbons. For woofers the order of preference is eAR1001, ESL then K2. The Extreme Canes even running penthode (200w) wasn't tight enough on woofers. For 2 larger subs, only K2.

Pre is SWL 9.0SE (Tung Sol) running through Marchand XM44. The above order was the same with Von Gaylord LAD2, a 6SN7 based preamp. I haven't tried a ss pre.

RGordonpf · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Aug 2005, 04:55 pm »

I have an all tube system with dehavilland 845-G SET amps driving RM30s full range. I also have a VMPS Larger dual voice coil sub driven by SS Eagle 400 monoblocks thru an external crossover. The sub is only needed on heavy metal and soundtracks. For orchestral and jazz, the RM30s driven by the 26 watts (due to the metal plate 845 tubes, with standard 845 tubes you can get 30 watts) do just fine. On the other hand, the deHaviiland amps drive a lot of current, much more than most tube amps. Yes, VMPS speakers love current. I had a solid state amp rated at 150 watts per channel that was unable to drive my VMPS FF-3s. I replaced the SS amp with a BAT VK-60 with 60 watts of tube power and it was heaven. Current is the secret to making VMPS amps sound great, not tubes or SS. YMMV

meilankev · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Aug 2005, 04:54 pm »

Warner,

I use tubed preamp and tubed monoblocks with my RM40s. It sounds pretty good.

Kevin

Mathew_M · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Aug 2005, 08:47 pm »

I've heard my VMPS sound their best while being driven by 125w VTL monoblocks. Tubes really bring out the fullness and inner detail in the midrange. Bass is more realistic if not as authoritative. Unfortunately the budget just hasn't been there for me to go with the upgrade.

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Aug 2005, 08:58 pm »

I have had tube amps, SS amps, digital amp, w/ and w/o tube preamps but the best I have heard was the Blue Circle Hybrid 204 running my VMPS RM40s. That is a sweet sweet amp.