[jon_010101]

Some may have noticed that I am selling a LOT of gear (or at least, trying to sell a lot of gear!)...

I am moving out west for a 2 year temporary position and, sadly, cannot take much gear with me.  My present plan is to bring only my Citation I and II with me, along with speakers and a 500gig harddrive full of music, and then pick up a Cambridge 840C and Squeezebox upon arrival, and eventually a new turntable.  Now, I have a lot of tube gear that I really enjoy.  But most of my tube amps are more "accurate" rather than "tubey" -- I'm not attached to some "lush" sound -- just clean, natural, musical sound.

So, this got me thinking -- maybe I would be better just getting a Cambridge 840A and 840C, and not worrying about tubes for a couple years.  Seriously, how would this work for me?  I have NEVER owned a high-end solid state amp, I don't even know what they sound like

So the question is: for someone who listens to very non-tubey tube gear, how will fine-quality solid state gear sound?  I know that most digital amps give me a headache, so I am a bit hesitant -- but, at the same time, curious    There are no dealers close-by, which makes this a bit more difficult for me, and I won't have the time to buy something on audioadvisor to "try" for at least a couple months.  Just wanted to seek some opinions from the solid-staters with tube experience (and, potato jokes aside, tubers with solid state experience). 

[sorenj07]

I have no experience with high end SS gear, or much with high-end tube gear, but from what I've heard from very experienced people, unless you drive the amps into clipping there should be ZERO difference.  Conceptually, it makes sense.  A well-designed amp should be invisible vis a vis the sound, so therefore two "invisible" amps shouldn't be more or less visible than each other 

In order to save some money you might want to DIY something, unless you've got those amps lined up already. 

[jon_010101]

Hi Soren -- I didn't know you hung out over here!  While I obviously don't mind DIY for tube gear, if I'm going for Solid-State, I'm doing it for convenience, peace of mind, and general laziness.  Basically, just to enjoy music without worrying about tweaks.  There is something appealing about that.  But the last solid state amp I had, a Denon PMA-920, was a real ear-bleeder, and I never knew why.  I hope things have improved since then! 

The Cambridge 840A white paper really impressed me, as it was complete with distortion charts at low powers, where it actually matters.  It appears in the same league (and a bit better, number-wise) as a good tube amp (viz., a Citation or Williamson) for low THD at low power, which really got my attention.  So, my objectivist side (and not the part of me that secretly likes Ayn Rand!) speculates that it shouldn't sound much different.  I guess it might be a matter of listening to verify that prediction. 

[sorenj07]

Yeah I was surprised to see you over here also.  I browse through once in a while, happened to see "tubes" in the subject line, and what do you know.  Those RCA 6SN7's are still kicking in my monoblocks, one per channel in the driver stage.  The Sovteks are microphonic like whoa, and noisy, so I might get a quad of EH's (which apparently people like) and replace them all...

[jon_010101]

Bump in case anyone has any thoughts on the 840A! 

[Toka]

The top-tier Cambridge stuff impresses the hell out of me, affordable price or no affordable price. That 840C CD player is bonkers...GREAT sound quality, and it accepts other digital sources for use with the DAC! What a concept.  And I really like the way the 840A sounds, too. You could certainly spend a lot more and do a lot worse!

[ajayrav]

The version 2 of the 840A has just hit the British shores.  Supposedly significant changes to the implementation of the XD technology have been made with this iteration.  That being said, you may want to wait for the V2 (or buy a V1 at a discounted price.

Ajay

[jon_010101]

Toka: If the 840C is in "bonkers" territory, then I definitely need to try one in my system.   

The version 2 of the 840A has just hit the British shores.  Supposedly significant changes to the implementation of the XD technology have been made with this iteration.  That being said, you may want to wait for the V2 (or buy a V1 at a discounted price.

Ajay

This is very good to know!  And it will keep me from being impulsive.  If I'm going high tech, I'd prefer to get the newest revision.   

I just discovered that tweeter stores sell these -- maybe I can get an idea of how they sound from a quick demo.

[JLM]

Well I'm confused (what's new?)...

You're taking a pre-amp, power amp, speakers, and hard drive of music with you then buy a SB, CDP, and turntable and need to down scale?   

If I were to down scale (physically), "rough it" for a couple of years, had a background of "accurate" tubes, and was working in your budget I'd look for something more like this:

Decware Select SE84ZS 2 wpc amp ($995):  http://decware.com/newsite/mainmenu.htm

Bolder fully modded SB3 with Channel Islands Audio power supply (about $1200)

Bob Brines FT-20 96 dB/w/m single driver standmounts ($695):    http://geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/FB-20/Main.html

Forget the turntable for the interim and leave all your stuff at home, this would also make a very nice and compact bedroom system.

[jon_010101]

Well I'm confused (what's new?)...

You're taking a pre-amp, power amp, speakers, and hard drive of music with you then buy a SB, CDP, and turntable and need to down scale?   

Well, it may sound a bit crazy, but compared to how much gear I have right now, that's a huge improvement!   I have a ton of vintage and DIY tube stuff that really needs to go.  My justification for picking up a TT after arrival is that, while I have to pay for this move out, my move back will likely be fully-covered -- so, better to pack light and buy a few things once I'm there

In other news -- I finally got to hear an 840A today at Tweeter.  It sounded very good, fast and clean, although the sound was not as "right there" as a big old tube amp.  It was hard to judge the amp's performance, however, due to the unfamiliar speakers (Focal 918 -- weird looking and expensive! ).  I'd really like to hear one in my own system before drawing any conclusions.

So, right now, I am restoring a "candidate" tube amp for my possible downsized system (Bogen DB230A integrated) -- I'm curious what it can do!  It sure would be a lot cheaper to ship than a Citation I and II.