[rydenfan]

I am very intrigued with the Butler 5150 hybrid tube Amp.
http://www.butleraudio.com/tdb5150.php

I do love the sweet sound of tubes but I am unsure as to how this amp might mate with a ribbon tweeter speaker? Does anybody have any experience with this amp? Thanks so much for the help! For some additional info, my pre/pro is the Cary Cinema 11; the Cary Cinema 5 is the other amp I am considering.

[JoshK]

What is your concern?  Many an audiophile mates his tube amps to his ribbon tweeter speakers.   Are you just wondering if it will sound nice?  If so, I'd speculate that it'd be a very congruent match.  The only reservation I would have is whether the 150 watts is enough for something like an HT3.  If you have HT1's then you should be set.

[rydenfan]

I guess my concern is would it be too much warmth? Am I better off with a more neutral amp? Every test shows the Butler amp having a high rated power than they say, so the power is not too much of a concern.

[jsalk]

The answer to this is very simple. 

If you like the sound of the Butler, you will like the sound of it with a good ribbon tweeter.  The ribbon will neither add or take away anything. 

A number of customers biamp HT3's with tube amps for the mids and treble and a large solid state amp for the bass.  If you like a warmer tube sound, this is a great way to go.  Fast, articulate bass with a very warm and musical top end.

As for power, 150 watts of tube amplification is more than adequate.  The soft clipping nature of tubes allows you to use amps rated much lower than solid state.  I have driven HT3's in my home with a 40-watt Jolida tube amp and had no issues.  A general rule of thumb is that you only need about 1/2 the watts when using tubes.  They clip so gracefully, you can get by with far less power.  And keep in mind, you are most likely listening to an average of 5 - 8 watts.  The rest is for headroom.

I hope this helps.

- Jim

[satfrat]

I guess my concern is would it be too much warmth? Am I better off with a more neutral amp? Every test shows the Butler amp having a high rated power than they say, so the power is not too much of a concern.

I have 2 Butler 3150's with Odyssey Lorelei's and in my system, warmth is not an issue. The Butler's are not your atypical tube amp so warmth is more a taming effect of the solid state circuits in the Butler that are providing that 150 watts. The tubes are only injected into the output stage with minimal voltage at that. As for clipping, that hasn't happened with my Lorelei's and I've had my Sunfire TG4 processor maxxing out the Butlers with "some" sources. Being the HT-3's are a very high end loudspeaker, I feel clipping or warmth are of no concern here. In fact, one of the Butler's  strengths is how clean they sound while being maxxed out. Ask Lonewolf how clean his Butlers (2250) are at peak volume with his Timepieces. What are you planning on using for a pre/processor?

Cheers,
Robin

[rydenfan]

What are you planning on using for a pre/processor?

Cheers,
Robin

I am using a Cary Cinema 11. So you are pleased with your Butler amps?

[satfrat]

Does a bear sh*t in the woods? I've had them over 4 years now,,, had them sent out and cryoed, tubes n' all,,,, and I don't see myself ever getting rid of them. I'm 50/50 with music & home theater and this setup does everything I want in spades. I personally couldn't be happier. 


Cheers,
Robin

[Rob Babcock]

I'd also agree that the hybrid Butler TBD amps aren't "tubey" in any conventional sense, nor artificially warmed up or loose.  I certainly love mine.  I've considered selling it since I won't get much chance to use it in the foreseeable future (it's not hooked up, and I might not really have a chance to use it til I'm finished with school! ), but I know I'd regret it, and it would be more expensive to repurchase it again once I have room for it.

[ajzepp]

I'll throw out another vote of confidence for the Butler amps. I have had a 5150 in my system for about a year and a half now and I have never been so smitten with an amp. It is very clean and detailed and not "overly" anything. I've said this before on the forums, but it was this amp that proved to me very clearly that not all amps sound alike. And this is with a very modest Outlaw 950 serving as the preamp...once I get a *real* preamp (or pre/pro) in here, I expect things to become quite spectacular, as the Outlaw is easily the weak link in my chain.  I would expect the Butler to mate very well with your most excellent Cary processor.

The Butler amps are some of the best kept secrets in audio, though becoming less of a secret every day

[lonewolfny42]

Whats this? The Butler fan club....

They are a good amp...and work well with all types of speakers.
Plenty of power....and if you own two ....even more power...
I will say...if there is one shortfall...the bass could be a little stronger...I have heard better. But the amp runs cool, looks good, sounds good. and works well.
You'll have no problem matching the Butler amp with Jim's speakers....

                                Chris

[satfrat]

Whats this? The Butler fan club....

They are a good amp...and work well with all types of speakers.
Plenty of power....and if you own two ....even more power...
I will say...if there is one shortfall...the bass could be a little stronger...I have heard better. But the amp runs cool, looks good, sounds good. and works well.
You'll have no problem matching the Butler amp with Jim's speakers....

                                Chris

Chris, with you owning 2 Butler 2250 amp, it's an expectation that you're into a 2 channel system where a weak bass might be an issue. It's also a reasonalble expectation that anyone with a Butler 5150 is doing multichannel and no respectable 5 channel sound system would be w/o a rockin subwoofer.  So under those circumstances, a weak bass don't mean squat. But I'll also add that even tho the Odyssey Lorelei's aren't the last stop in bass, most Lorelei owners will agree that it's pretty damn good. To me, my system, my ears, the lack of bass using my Sunfire TG4 & my Butlers with my Lorelei's hasn't been remotely an issue. Maybe with those high end sterile preamps, this weak bass does show itself. Thank God my system is fertile as all get out.  And just because Chris might be right, I gotta subwoofer and run my 4 Lorelei's small,,,,just to be on the safe side.  aa



Robin

[lonewolfny42]

Robin....

I didn't exactly say it was weak..

I said ...the bass could be a little stronger...I have heard better bass...(an example, the McCormack DNA-500). 

And yes....in a two channel system.....

Thank God my system is fertile as all get out.

Must be that Miracle-Gro....

[satfrat]

Robin....

I didn't exactly say it was weak..

I said ...the bass could be a little stronger...I have heard better bass...(an example, the McCormack DNA-500). 

And yes....in a two channel system.....

Thank God my system is fertile as all get out.

Must be that Miracle-Gro....