Tubes to SS.... success stories????

bsuhy · « **on:** 15 Dec 2007, 12:34 am »

I have a Quicksilver Linestage and Quicksilver Mini-Mites, and I am thinking about switching them out to a more "kid friendly" SS front end. The QS gear has been great, but with the kids I would rather play it safe for a while.

Has anyone out there ever made this type of change?

I recently had a Trends TA 10.1 in my system for a few weeks and really liked the way it sounded, and I remember thinking "If only I had something like this with multiple inputs and a pre/sub out."

I listen to a variety of music on my single driver Omega Aperiodic 8's, which are in a 14x12 room. Mainly acoustic guitar, jazz vocals, string quartets, and occasionally visit my teenage years to listen to some hard rock ( metallica, pantera, satriani, vai, van halen, etc ).

If anyone has any stories or advice I would love to hear from you.

Or maybe I am going down the road of makng one of those mistakes mentioned in another thread just down the page.....

-Brian

pbrstreetgang · « **Reply #1 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 01:26 am »

Sure SS can sound very good and also can have advantages in high Efficiency simple systems in terms of lower noise floors and black black background. The RWA 30s, Bel Canto, Nuforce integrateds, even the Pass first watts. I also heard a Winsome 40WPC digital I thought was very good (kinda like a Trends on steroids)

nrenter · « **Reply #2 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 01:29 am »

If I may quote myself from a thread over in the Acoustics Circle:

Quote

Where are the tubes? Well, I've had tubes for years and loved them. I mean really loved them. However, there are compromises I'm willing to make because 1) I want something I can leave on 24x7, 2) I need something that doesn't generate as much heat, 3) I don't want to continuously wonder if a NOS set of Pope 6SN7s sound better than my NOS RCAs or if my 12BZ7s are aging and need to be replaced, and 4) I want hardware that doesn't require as much real estate.

I've put a lot of thought into this system with the hopes it allows me to focus on the music and not the gear. With everything else in this hobby, YMMV.

Although I've only had my Ayre gear for a week, so far I absolutely love it. But, like I said before, YMMV.

95bcwh · « **Reply #3 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 01:53 am »

The biggest mistake you can make in this hobby is to buy equipment (without audition) based on the opinions of people with totally different tastes than yours.

Just an example, I recently have the opportunity to evaluate a pair of Synergistic Research Tesla speaker cable which won the TAS cable of the year 2007, and guess what - I returned it.

Quote from: bsuhy on 15 Dec 2007, 12:34 am

Or maybe I am going down the road of makng one of those mistakes mentioned in another thread just down the page.....

-Brian

Imperial · « **Reply #4 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 01:55 am »

Say... Red Wine Audio integrated?
Sounds like tubes they say. Has in + out (I don't know if that is a line in and a line out or what ever)
6moons just tested it.

Back in the days I used to play with a Electrocompaniet ECi-2 A 50w class A that sounded so much like tubes it was spooky!
I liked it!

Imperial

Jon L · « **Reply #5 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 03:04 am »

Yeah, going from my Almarro to $40,000 Boulder 2060, I thought I could possibly live with it after all. But I still prefer the sound of my simple Almarro

doak · « **Reply #6 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 03:57 am »

Quote from: Jon L on 15 Dec 2007, 03:04 am

Yeah, going from my Almarro to $40,000 Boulder 2060, I thought I could possibly live with it after all. But I still prefer the sound of my simple Almarro

Whoa! There's WAY too much stuff in there for it to sound good.

Imperial · « **Reply #7 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 06:12 am »

Well, the massive amounts of bipolars in the 2060 and the 9 - series gain modules do consist of a lot of parts... Whoa.
But I believe the word "Whoa" also is rather fitting as a description of how the 2060 sound.... Whoa!

Say Jon L... no tube pre driving that 2060?
Uhm, those are the pics from PFO right?

Imperial

TONEPUB · « **Reply #8 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 07:23 am »

Ive been pretty happy with the RWA Sig 30.2, but it doesn't sound like tubes. However,
having a couple of other battery powered things, they seem to have their own signature
sound. Not quite tubey, yet not quite solid state. Very nice so far...

Also been listening to the new Luxman integrated. 30wpc solid state class-a and
I love it!!! Going to buy the review sample, I'm not giving this baby back!

There is a lot more good solid state stuff than ever before. Give a few a listen
and see what you think!

lazydays · « **Reply #9 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 07:24 am »

Quote from: bsuhy on 15 Dec 2007, 12:34 am

I have a Quicksilver Linestage and Quicksilver Mini-Mites, and I am thinking about switching them out to a more "kid friendly" SS front end. The QS gear has been great, but with the kids I would rather play it safe for a while.

Has anyone out there ever made this type of change?

I recently had a Trends TA 10.1 in my system for a few weeks and really liked the way it sounded, and I remember thinking "If only I had something like this with multiple inputs and a pre/sub out."

I listen to a variety of music on my single driver Omega Aperiodic 8's, which are in a 14x12 room. Mainly acoustic guitar, jazz vocals, string quartets, and occasionally visit my teenage years to listen to some hard rock ( metallica, pantera, satriani, vai, van halen, etc ).

If anyone has any stories or advice I would love to hear from you.

Or maybe I am going down the road of makng one of those mistakes mentioned in another thread just down the page.....

-Brian

two things here:
* I went from a series of tube amps to a pair of Odyssey mono SE's with no real regrets.
Yes there are times I miss my tube amps, but never enough to want to go back. I kept my Quicksilver linestage for a short while, and they were a great match up. Later I moved up to a Candella, and the difference was like going to the otherside of the street.
* There seems to be a good many people looking for those amps you have along with the Horn Monos and the Mid Monos. So if you do decide to make the switch you shouldn't have much trouble selling them. I've often thought about buying a pair of the Mid Monos to replace my Wave Eights.
gary

Rocket · « **Reply #10 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 07:36 am »

Hi Guys,

Quote

The biggest mistake you can make in this hobby is to buy equipment (without audition) based on the opinions of people with totally different tastes than yours.

Yep, that is what i've done in the past and regretted spending so much money. This is about the best piece of advice I have read on Audiocircle.

Good luck with your search.

Regards

Rod

BrianM · « **Reply #11 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 01:06 pm »

Don't choose between tubes and solid state - buy hybrid gear!

Jon L · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 03:05 pm »

Quote from: Imperial on 15 Dec 2007, 06:12 am

Say Jon L... no tube pre driving that 2060?
Uhm, those are the pics from PFO right?

Imperial

Yeah, those are PFO pics. I'm just half joking about the gazillion parts in 2060. If I ever owned 84dB/2 ohm speakers, I would seriously consider 2060 b/c they are some of the very best of what SS can offer.

Still, with my 96dB speakers, K1000 earspeakers, and Senn HE60 electrostat speakers, my 2 watt and 5 watt SE amps are plenty. They also do better what's important to me: bristling life and microdynamics.

Quote from: TONEPUB on 15 Dec 2007, 07:23 am

There is a lot more good solid state stuff than ever before. Give a few a listen
and see what you think!

Or try something old

Hey, tweaks for the Paramours have now gone over the price fo the amps in the form of VCap teflons, some oil PF caps, nicer tubes, etc. Sounds very fabulous driving my AKG K1000 and Senn HE60 electrostat headphones

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 03:47 pm »

If your primary listening is with a digital front end (CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD).....you'll probably want tubes there to soften and fill-in.

If your a caveman, like me, and listen primarily to vinyl.....tubes aren't a necessity (but in my case, preferred).

John

BrianM · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 05:12 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 15 Dec 2007, 03:47 pm

If your primary listening is with a digital front end (CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD).....you'll probably want tubes there to soften and fill-in.

Translation: to distort and embellish. Rubbish!

JLM · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 05:30 pm »

Chip amps are considered by many to be another solid state option with some tube likeness. I really like my Channel Island Audio VMB-1 monoblocks. Unfortunately they're no longer made. But the Gaincard 47 (sakurasystems.com) and Peter Daniel (audiosector.com) build some nice ones and there is a ton of information for DIY at diy.com.

Power from chip amps is normally limited to about 40 wpc.

t-head · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Dec 2007, 05:41 pm »

I agree with JLM. Check out Peter Daniels site. The Amp1 integrated may suit your needs. Chips are somewhere in between tubes and typical ss. I am saving for a Patek with volume control...using 300B monos and tube pre...Peter recommends keeping his amps on 24/7/365...a suggestion...

tea

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Dec 2007, 01:56 am »

Quote from: BrianM on 15 Dec 2007, 05:12 pm

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 15 Dec 2007, 03:47 pm
If your primary listening is with a digital front end (CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD).....you'll probably want tubes there to soften and fill-in.

Translation: to distort and embellish. Rubbish!

tee-hee, I thought much the same, oh, maybe up until 3 years ago. But there is something more than just pleasing distortion that are tube signatures. Namely, from what I understand, they are an open circuit (a vacuum, which is the principle of how tubes operate, is an open circuit).

Transistors open and close, combined with sampling rates (not analog-ous, but digital approximations of sound), it will often make for a steely presentation as your mind has to work hard to fill in the gaps. Tube gear, with such digital approximations such as CD, have at least an open circuit so that your brain doesn't work to fill in the blanks nearly as much. So, CD sounds more 'relaxed' or softer to the ear than with solid state gear. This was explained to me long ago by someone far more technically oriented than I..

Quote

Meaning of analogous (adjective)
similar; parallel; comparable

The higher sampling rate digital technologies, DVD/DVD-A/SACD, suffer less from the need for your brain to fill in the blanks...and may or may not sound better using tubes. Like those who enjoy vinyl, tubes become more of a preference than a necessity.

We're all rather different in so many ways that any generalization is apt to be wrong in some way....but it is largely the case that using tubes will soften and help the fill-in with CD playback.

You may try to fight the tide of reality, I did for years thinking much the same as you, or you can listen for yourself and decide. No lost sleep for me either way, Brian

John

95bcwh · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Dec 2007, 02:22 am »

Quote from: BrianM on 15 Dec 2007, 05:12 pm

Translation: to distort and embellish. Rubbish!

I bet sound coming out of human throats have more distortion than tubes..

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Dec 2007, 04:04 am »

Isn't everyone's throat shaped like a tube?