What was your first Tube gear?

dangerbird · « **Reply #40 on:** 15 Apr 2011, 11:48 pm »

Audible Illusions L-1,, wish I had never sold it.

wywires · « **Reply #41 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 12:03 am »

Pathos Classic I, MKII. Wish I still had it but I had to pay some bills at the time.

Blackmore · « **Reply #42 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 12:19 am »

conrad johnson MV-50 (later upgraded to MV-52 status) Still have it and will be using it tomorrow at a GTG with the GAS gang. Love that old amp.

datman · « **Reply #43 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 12:32 am »

Audio Research SP3A and D76 for me.

mca · « **Reply #44 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 12:34 am »

Dodd 50wpc integrated, wish I never sold it

S Clark · « **Reply #45 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:14 am »

Quote from: mca on 16 Apr 2011, 12:34 am

Dodd 50wpc integrated, wish I never sold it

I didn't know that Gary built an integrated. My first tubes were the Eico ST70 with 7591's. I've still got the unit, and it is still a pretty nice sound.

MaxCast · « **Reply #46 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:21 am »

My first was a Foreplay preamp built by my self. Very fun, still have it but the pots are a bit scratchy.
Then bought some Wave-8's. Still have them, never really used them.
Mappletree preamp 2se, currently using.

Johnny2Bad · « **Reply #47 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 06:07 am »

My first taste of tubed gear was a Luxman MQ68C (30wpc williamson-type) power amplifier driven by a Lux CL-32 (also vacuum state) preamp circa 1978 or '79, which I was able to audition for quite a few months in my home. The first tubed gear I actually owned was a Anthem Amp-1.

JakeJ · « **Reply #48 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 08:29 am »

Precision Fidelity C-7A. I also wish I had never sold it.

Guy 13 · « **Reply #49 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 10:28 am »

Hi all Audio Circle members.
Believe me or not, this was my first tube gear.
I've build it myself with old salvaged TV parts.
It was mono with a 6L6 or 6F6 pentode with a 6SN7 voltage amplifier and a 5Y3 (?) rectifier tube.
The power output was ? ? ? Well around 5 watts.
It worked the first time I plug it in.
That was around 1963 during the good old days of tube amplifiers.
Can you beat that ?
Guy 13

djbnh · « **Reply #50 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 10:41 am »

My dad gave me his Fisher 800B receiver (still working). Lots of wonderful memories of my parents instilling in me an appreciation for music.

soundbitten1 · « **Reply #51 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 11:34 am »

Anthem 1L preamp. Still have it and still use it in my man cave.

hibuckhobby · « **Reply #52 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 12:47 pm »

Audio Research SP-9 and VT60
Were it not for my compulsion to upgrade,
I'd still have them. Great sound.

baldrick · « **Reply #53 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 01:39 pm »

My very first piece of tube gear was the EL-84 10 watt monoblock as written in
Mullard's Tube Circuits for Audio Amplifiers

Tubes were sourced from National and Sylvania when both were still in business and still available at local electronics wholesalers (OK the EF86 was a National rebranded Soviet Winged-C) with iron from Hammond).

That was a long time ago, but I still have it, and have since gone on to build a number of amps, preamps and tuners, all tube.

Currently, on my workbench are (in working condition but awaiting chassis case-work) a 24-192 tube DAC and an Aikido preamp. All I can say about this is that it's damn sweet.

JoshK · « **Reply #54 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 02:45 pm »

Cary V12i was my first piece of tube gear.

bpape · « **Reply #55 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 03:05 pm »

My first piece was a long time ago - pre kids.

Luxman CL-34

Bryan

doug s. · « **Reply #56 on:** 16 Apr 2011, 04:46 pm »

hibuckhobby's post reminded me that my earlier post about my first piece of tube gear was incorrect.

(http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=91248.msg908091#msg908091)

and once again, it shows that, when it comes to gear, "ymmv". my first tube gear was the arc sp9-mkll preamp, in the early 90's. it was a used refurb'd piece i got from a great, and now defunct used stereo equipment store in the dc metro area, w/its main branch in falls church, va. (hi-tech service & exchange; boy do i miss them.) anyway, even w/spendy nos tubes, the sp9-mkll was so lifeless and lacking "prat", that even my lowly adcom gfp-1a i was wanting to upgrade, outperformed it. amp/speakers were adcom gfa555 driving a pair of thiel 3.5's. hi-tech exchange was wery understanding, taking the sp9 back after a two week audition. i spent several more years in s/s land, next preamp upgrades were an arcam delta 110 preamp, then electrocompaniet ec-1a; both a huge improvement over the sp9-mkll and adcom gft-1a. only in the late 90's did i then wenture back into tube-land, per my prior post to this thread; and i have been firmly entrenched ever since...

doug s.

chrisby · « **Reply #57 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 04:53 pm »

I worked in the biz off and on for most of the mid 70- early 90s, and before kids spent a lot of time hanging out after hours, so got a chance to hear quite quite a few Audio Research and McIntosh rigs, but just never "got it" (sticker shock probably had a lot to do with that),

After almost a decade of listening to/enjoying my small Linn system less and less - you know, something was "just missing"

, something prompted me to taste test a little AudioNote SE amp. While woefully underpowered for my speakers at the time ( Linn Keilidh), it opened the door to a level of emotional connection with some of my favorite performances for the first time.

But not quite ready for dipping my toe in the shallow end of the DIY pond, the first tube piece to take official residency was Jolida 302B, which was quickly converted to triode / no feedback. Almost a dozen years and quite a few pre & power amps later ( Decware Zens, Bottlehead Foreplay & Paramour, Wright Mono7, Tubelab SimplePP and half a dozen or more DIY projects) it's still there - well, on the bench undergoing a rebuild. It's (possibly?) less addictive than drugs, certainly a lot cheaper going the DIY route, and provided you keep your hands in the right places when building/testing, reasonably safe - so far the worst that's happened is some solder iron branding.

Carl V · « **Reply #58 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 05:12 pm »

PV5
MV-50(52) then added another MV52
Vandersteen 2C (many upgrades--3A-sig)
This was my 1st Hi-end Hi-Fi.
I've been off & on this merry go round.
Yet still have these golden oldies. Nostalgia?
Perhaps. Big splurge purchase back in the day.
Most of the Audio scribes owned this combo & wrote
about the cj sound

rollo · « **Reply #59 on:** 19 Apr 2011, 05:18 pm »

An Audio Research 6B preamp. mated with a Bryston 4BST and Maggie 3As. Made the Bryston sing.
Went through the whole push pull thing with amps, who pushed me away. Now its SET[ modded Cyber 211] time with a triode preamp/phono [ Loesch & Weisner] a tubed CDP [ Lector 7TL mk 1]

charles