Let me know 1) What is your favorite tube and why? 2) Do you prefer push-pull or single-ended? 3) Do you like your tube amp? 4) Are you planning to try a tube amp in the future? Benefits of using tubes: th-cam.com/video/9f5iV80jAe0/w-d-xo.html Here are some comments from Mr. Vintage that I left out from the video. Please keep in mind we are generalizing here. Mr. Vintage: For me, the biggest difference between Single-ended and push-pull design is the image (結像力), the SE is sharp like the Zeiss lens while the push-pull is a little loose by comparison. It was 6V6 that inspired me to enter the "tube world". The magic of the 6V6 tube driving a pair of Dynaco A25 could not be found on all my Marantz, Sansui, Pioneer, Kenwood...SS amplifiers. The 6L6 follows the footprint of the 6V6 but has blended in the flavor of the EL34. I find the 6L6 performs the best on the McIntosh 240 Poweramp and even today I don't think you can find another amp that surpasses the 6L6 of the Mcintosh MC240. The NOS 6V6GT tubes are still available and affordable, this is something I like to explore，I think its mid-range rivals the SE designs in Push-pull. The bass is a bit lean but it is tuneful and has a good definition.
I have pretty limited experience with tubes (compared with some here, anyway), but I will say I quite like my vintage push-pull 6BQ5 receiver. The best experience I've ever had with a tube was a GE red label 5670 in a DAC, though in the future I look forward to hearing 6N6P tubes in a DAC's output section. Some other really interesting tubes out there that seem cool, though I have not heard... The 50CA10 is an interesting power triode that can be found in vintage Luxman amplifiers. I'd love to get my hands on one of those. And of course, the 12AX7 and 12AU7 deserve some credit for being easy to find and getting so many people into tube audio.
I use 6L6 on push pull configuration Do I like it? Yes One thing i observe is, in a push pull configuration, the impact of tube rolling (change brand) is subtle, while on single-ended topology it is more notable Correct me if I am wrong since this is just generalization from my limited experience
Thomas, you are one of the great voices in the audio community. Your style and storytelling is so illuminating and unique. You should write a book- I bet it will be a best seller!
I agree with what has been said about Thomas. His presentation is informal & intimate...like he's a very cool & knowledgeable audiophile friend...just talking to me.
6:00 thank you so much for giving this rough guide to tube sound, you don't find this anywhere else online! Instead reviewers focus far to much on build quality, inputs / outputs, price etc. and leave out the most important part. Keep doing what you're doing, you're one of the most helpful hifi channels on TH-cam.
As a “newbie” to the world of Tube amps, I must say that this video is incredible. I learned so much and at least have a base to begin investigating what is right for me. I am looking forward to binging through the rest of your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of information in a very clear and concise manner
Bought the Reisong A10 a year ago, my first tube amp. Tom is right, great midrange but lacked bass & punch for me. Bought the Willsenton R8 OMG! what a difference! This one is a keeper! Have no intention of trying something else. Exceeded my expectations Very Very happy! Best sounding Amp I ever owned over 50 years of being a audiophile.
My favorite tube is the EL34b in the Reisong A10. I prefer single ended amps or Class A amps. I absolutely love my Reisong A10. The sound is absolutely beautiful and the quality and detail put into this unit is outstanding. This is the best amp I’ve owned thus far and I will never buy a solid state amp again. For me this is an entry level amp and I am seriously considering buying a more powerful tube amp again. I really appreciate Reisong as a company because they share their schematics and as an electronics hobbyist I find this educational. I also am grateful how this company has made this technology financially accessible to everyone. Thank you for your excellent commentary !
Indeed. I have enjoyed my Reisong A10 for a year or so, not going anywhere soon. Sweet, non fatiguing sound. Plenty of power to drive my 99dB/w speakers in my apartment 🤘
Absolutely brilliant Thomas, this video is very close to my heart as I am on this tube Journey with you. I will say that having a sensitive speaker opens up lots more options and should be a careful consideration.
I just purchased a Tekton lore 96db efficiency upgraded version mondolf capacitor upgraded crossover from the company $1300 fantastic speaker excellent resolution excellent bass beautiful mid range my tube amps never sounded better
I use the Primaluna prologue pre amp running Mullard gz34 & Mullard CV4003 12AU7 valves paired with a Plinius RA 300 solid state power amp running into Focal Sopra 2 speakers ... Changing to NOS tubes made a huge difference , All going well so far , Thanks Thomas for an excellent audio channel that's very informative ... 😎
Lookin foreword the review. The WilsentonR8 was my first “ new” tube amp and I have a 10watt L84 based vintage amp. The old amp whispered in my ear years ago that “ hey , this what you want”. The R8 has let me know “ that old amp was right”. When I move up, it will be the bigger Wilsenton. Guess I’m a “ tube guy” now.. happy to be here:)
In order to take advantage of the best qualities of each part of a system, I prefer separates. I use a Tube Pre to get the tube sound and holographic effect, then via an active crossover, I send mids and highs to a solid state class A and lastly, my 2 servo subs use class D.
@@MrBonger88 Bryston 10B-SUB. It's pricey but it's transparent and that is a huge deal when inserting anything between a pre and an amp. It's a worthwhile investment.
Thomas man, a decade ago I was a guitar player who played guitar tube amps for 30+ years and was starting to build my first hifi. A tube integrated was the logical choice but the choices seemed to be really cheap and unreliable stuff or super expensive stuff. What you have done this past year in highlighting good quality mid priced tube gear would have been SO amazing for me at the start of my hifi journey!!!!!!! I know that many people entering the hifi journey will absolutely have a wealth of info that was not available to me a decade ago. Your tube series of reviews is truly a great contribution to the community!!
I’m finding the importance of finding and using quality tubes , huge in dictating the listening experience . Many of these amps come with bottom end tubes not even correctly biased . That is a huge topic in itself .
I found this presentation to be very informative and offering key points on what to consider before purchasing a tube amp. The vast world of tubes and their combinations can be overwhelming and again you help us so very much. Thank you.
I am learning about amps little by little. It's so hard when you do not have access to different types of amps to know what you like or dont like, without of course experimentation, which can be prohibitively expensive. As I take my second foray into tubes I am trying to read and watch as many videos as I can, but there's no substitute for having the item in your home hooked up to your equipment. I very much look forward to your video on the R800i
Great video Thomas. As an avid user of tube amps for guitar, I'm thinking about buying one for my audio rig. You have such a clear way of explaining things, I always learn tons from your work. Thank you for sharing your experience with us newbies.
@@ThomasAndStereo hello Thomas. Thanks for replying. Me and my wife both watch your channel. Really appreciate you. Yes solid pre. As my system does double duty. For HT duty as well. The Parasound P6 gives the HT bypass. Speakers are FYNEAUDIO F502sp towers and PARADIGM Seismic 110 sub for HT duty along with centers and surrounds of course.
@@ThomasAndStereo Btw can you kindly share your opinion on Primaluna amps? As you get to compare with lot of other Tube amps. Your inputs will be very helpful and valuable. The Dialogue premium new was around $3k USD when new or till a year back. I got mine in 2019 and paid a little less then listed price. But apparently Primaluna holds value quite well. I had Prologue Premium before. Upgraded to Dialogue in 2019. Both are replaced by the Evolution line now I suppose.
@@sahdinkhan1827 I believe he said they are excellent Amplifier integrated‘s as well but they are pricey nowadays you can get one for 1/3 the price that is 90% the sound of prima Luna
@@stephencosta6814 thanks for your input man. yup they are pricey no doubt. I Started tube with Icon Audio Stereo 40.2 Mkiii intigrated back in 2015. All British made. Before that always ran all solid state separates. After the Icon Audio i moved to Primaluna and started experimenting with Hybrid system. Ran a Cayin intigrated for few weeks can't remember the model. Then went back to Primaluna. First Prologue then Dialogue the bigger one.
Back in the day I purchased Carver Silver 9Ts. That was an obscene amount of money back then! My 9Ts power my ol’ school Polk SRA-SDS 1.2tls (also run two (2) Velodyne FSR-18 subs). Every 5 years I have the amps serviced (cleaned, replace all tubes, etc), which I have done for the past 30+ years. The 1.2tls (I am the original owner) have been restored. My 9Ts still sound amazing! Yes, I own old equipment but my ol’ school gear still images beautifully. Now that my financial position has improved, I can afford to pay cash for new gear. I recently purchased a Sony XBR-77A9GG OLED tele, an ATV 4K and two (2) SVS PC-4000 subs. Next will be Polk L800 (with L900’modules). Have not decided on an amp or processor. People shit on me because my commitment to Polk. My ears like Polk and that’s all that matters to me.
Nice job of finding an interesting angle and explanation of the overwhelming experience of listening to so many reviewers and their personal opinion on a vague subject . ( the norm in hiring?) As always a great informative listen . This should be a amplifier 101 even before they start listening to individual reviewers . Especially with resurgence and popularity of tube integrated amps .
There is no contest. The big iron gets the biggest sound. All the best, and most transparent amps, the ones that defied amplification and just became the music seamlessly... they all have the name Bogen. And they all date from the early 60s and earlier. The original work horses were the austere, multi purpose MO60 and MO100. A few tweaks and those amps are the best thing you'll ever hear. Even without those tweaks, they'll serve any audiophile a top ten performance. It doesn't matter that they often wound up hammering nails or shaking huge tables, they offered the largest frequency response of all the tube spectrum. 5hz-50khz. Yes, really. I just flipped two sets of dual mono blocks for obscene money, locally... I began using them in the studio to critically study mixes... they're simply stellar. Often overlooked, because the later Bogens were not that great. Also because they are basic, black boxes with zero bling. All business. The BP60 would have been a game changer... but too few were made... if you find one, keep it! You'll never see another. At the base of each great tube amp is the iron. Bogen had the BEST. It's a fine art. To replicate those amps now, domestically, would command a price of 10k for two 100 watt mono blocks. TRIPLE RECTIFIED!!! And never bested, IMO.
The whole tube-thing is new for me. I purchased a Leben CS300 and replaced it by the CS300f . I can tell these are different! Thanks for your interesting video, I did learn a lot.
Hi Thomas, when getting into my decision/making process on a new amp about 5 month ago, I watched literaly all of your videos and pretty much enjoyed all of those - same with this video. Ultimately, I ended up with a Line Magnetic LM-211, one of the smaller verisons of LM, running EL34 in push pull. And yes, I have been close to purchase one of these 805 or 845 tube single ended monsters, but was ultimately kept back from both price in Germany and heat dissipation (0.5 KW !) which would heat up my listening room too much during summer. But to my huge surprize, the sound I am getting with my Sonus Faber Cremona V1 is so great, sweet, and yet dynamic that I do not want to go back to solid state. Yes, I agree with you that its ultimately about tube type and curcuitry preference - but, the first move is to go from solid state to tubes at all! And, for most whoalready have speakers that ar capable for tume amps this step will be a quantum leap! So, thanks for all your great videos and your unrivalled way of explaining things!
I solved all the issues to do with tube amps by sticking with very good solid state amplification and realizing that, as long as all the system components produce high quality accurate, neutral sound, the greatest influence on sound quality are the source recordings.
From Spain my favorite reviwer... to categorize is what i spect from a review. Sold my Naim gear and keeping my Reisong A10 but I feel to need to uograde but keeping in Class A single ended... very easy to listen in fact
Thanks, Thomas, for laying this out at the beginner level, which is pretty close to the mark for me with tube amplifiers. Given the limited efficiencies of my speakers, I may not get to try tubes anytime soon despite my interest in them. Nonetheless, I appreciate how with all of your videos you show your reasoning as you inform and explain about the topic at hand. Knowing more about things, even those I may never buy or experience, is allowing me to better understand how my system components work together and choices to be made as I look to improve or add to what I have.
Great video. But I must say that the power and output transformers play an enormous role as well. The weight of similarly constructed tube amps can reveal which has the generally better output transformers. I used to have the hot rodded 'original' version of the Willsenton R800i (Line Magnetic LM805IA). It comes with better build than the Willsenton but with cheaper tubes. It still sounds better. Both have a grip over the bass drivers and a finesse over the mids and treble that push pull can't offer at anywhere near the same price. Think double the price just to be in the ballpark. I demo'd my LM805IA against the PrimaLuna EVO400 Integrated and, even with hotrodded NOS tubes, the PL EVO got demolished in every genre. It was an absolute runaway victory when I used NOS tubes in the LM805IA. No bass amps being discussed here, but these big radio transmitter SET tubes (805, 845, 211) do things that push pull amps just can't. Period. End of story.
The r800i is a cheaper copy of the LM508ia. But without full point to point wiring or the upgraded caps/resistors. I am not sure if the r800i has the Japanese EL core output transformers of the Line Magnetic, either. Weights are very similar though.
Run in stock setup is meant to be great but gather the clans and get those tubes rolled! And reading between the lines of those V shaped speakers that you like: holographic air, fast punchy quality bass and dynamics 😉
@@KeenAesthetic1 Agreed. NOS tubes, even if only on the small input tubes, bring HUGE gains. I actually use and prefer speakers with great imaging but neutral on-axis and listening window responses. Solid bass, too. But that hologram of the performer standing in your room is a drug for me.
Thanks for the great video Thomas, I just bought BoyuuRange mk3 50, and wow 7.6 watts per channel. My biggest surprise is that it can power my sonus faber sonetto viii 90db sensitivity no problem. Love the sound 🔊
I have a Reisong A-10 tube amp. I live in a mobile home and have it in a very small spare bedroom contacted to Klipsch RM 600s. It sounds great whether thru the phono or cd.
SET is class a. The incoming signal is not split and beat up. In push-pull, it's class A-B. Each circuit handles one half of the input signal. The two signals are then splice together. This gluing creates a distortion, crossover distortion. More circuitry is added to eliminate and smooth that crossover distortion. Some amps the amplitude of the frequency at the splice is reduced along with the other half thus their is a blend of both signals in an area where both produce the sound creating an impure signal. The class a-b will usually have more power for obvious reasons - single circuit can only produce so much. Long ago A/D/S made class a car amps. The sound was phenomenal and loud. Unfortunately, they had a habit of burning up due to being class a and without ginormous heat sinks. Had one in a car in the early 90s and which people still talk about today. As an end note, class a-b solid state has come a long way, such that crossover distortion shouldn't be an issue in any competent amp.
Currently using a Type 85 tube based preamp feeding a bi amped system where the mids and highs are driven by a 300B SET amp and the lows are driven by a diy solid state amp based on the Gibson Lab Series guitar amp with large 150,000 microfarad capacitors in the power supply.
@Laurentz, Type 85 preamplifier tubes from the 1930s can be an iffy engineering proposition due to their low current output but they do sound like something "God" would use - the Type 85 tube definitely sounds heavenly.
Thanks Thomas. I’m just starting into proper tube amps. Bought a used/inexpensive EL84 Mengyue Mini recently, updated the tubes, and am amazed by how it sounds. Have been looking at the R8 for a few weeks.
Hi Thomas single ended with active bass, could have stayed in that room all day, Manchester hifi show, about 10 Yr ago... Now give us good choice of speakers to go with these lovely amplifiers.. Thanks Thomas,, regards Antony Warrington..
I have had a Reisong A10 for about one year. I have been tube rolling several EL34's (Tung Sol is the best so far) and KT77. I have swapped out the stock rectifier for a mid 60's ex-RAF Mullard CV 1863. I have also swapped out the 6N2Js for NOS JSC Voskhod 6N2P-EB/6AX7. I am well pleased with the sound. 1. I don't have a favorite tube i.e., EL34, KT88, etc. as I have not had enough experience with a variety of tube amps. 2. Same as above. However in solid state I prefer class A. 3. So far I am enjoying the Reisong very much. In a word, it is salubrious. 4. Yes. I am planning on trying additional tube amps.
Interesting. I have the same amp, Reisong A10. I found changing the rectifier made it sound too much like "solid state" even thou using the same "type" of rectifier. I have tried the Russian equivalent 5Ц4С (5U4S) and also Brimar 5Z4G (CV1863). I find the amp sounds the sweetest (tube like) with those original ShuGuang 5Z4P (J) it shipped with. Maybe there is is enough difference electrically between these same "types" rectifiers after all and its designed to use the original tube. Not sure if i'm imagining it or not (i don't think so), don't have any measurement tools to confirm. Anyhow, because of that, i have stocked quite a few of those original type rectifiers. I really do like the amp. Oh, also noticed that its best to be plugged in a dedicated wall socket and not use any extension cords shared with other devices, it changed the background noise even better (less), i did not think about that first because its so low wattage, but it did make a difference. My speakers are sensitive to background hiss/noise, 99dB/w, Klipsch Heresy III. Currently my favourite combo for the other tubes are the Russian 6N2P-EV signal tubes and Mullard EL34 (current production). Also used Tung-Sol EL34, but now they are for backups. Can listen to this little beast of a amp for hours / whole day without even a hint of listening fatigue compared to a normal solid state stuff i also have. 👍
@@johto if you check out the voltage drop between the rectifier tubes you are using,They can and will effect the sound quality of the amplifier. Another thing to consider is the rectification rail on the amplifier. A majority of the rails are either 5v-1.9amp which would be a 5ar4, It has the least amount of voltage drop.A 5v-2a which would be for tubes like 5y3.normally low powered low milliamp 125 max circuits. Then the 5v-3a like the 5u4 family of rectifiers,which can handle 250ma. Where a majority of people go wrong with rectifier tubes is ,They will use to small of a rectifier on a circuit,Like a rectifier rated for 3a on a 2a circuit. They will use a rectifier with less voltage drop on circuit, So the voltages are to high or they will use an undersized rectifier on a circuit,So the tube is push to its limit ,because of the MA current that is required to run the amp.. In a SE el34 amplifier, the milliamp draw of the power tubes and driver tubes, is going to be atleast 125-130ma depending on how the tubes are biased. The voltage drop between a 5ar4 and 5u4g is roughly 42 volts,the difference between a 5ar4 and diodes is roughly 7volts... If you wanted to customize your amp. If you do pio coupling capacitors the sound will be smoother and rounder.and it will match up with more speakers.If you do poly or Teflon capacitors, it will sound brighter,more detailed and exact ,so fewer speakers will work with it.
Thank you for this @ Thomas & Stereo. It brings me to a very important consideration. I am looking at a change to an R8 to replace my IOTAVX SA3/PA3x2……Or keep my IOTAVX PA3 and use the Schiit Freya + as a pre-amp upgrade. The prices for the upgrade is similar between the two. My speakers are the Klipsch RP-8000F. I appreciate all your great videos and perspective!
Yes I would go with that combination use a schiit Freya with the two power amps form iotavx make sure you use a 50ohm interconnect cable between the two something like a RG 213/u. I think you gonna lose bass control with the r8 maybe if you change the tube rectifier think it's got! for solid-state you might be alright Or possibly I think the r8 got pre out? If so you could use it bi-amp but you need to match the impedance between the two amps use a potentiometer at 50 kohms to the pa3
@@johnsweda2999 thanks for this, question though. Why would I need a 50ohm interconnect? Is there a matching problem between the voltage gain of the PA3 and Frey’s +?
@@F1fletch yes it is a matching gain issue, all analogue signal should be 50 ohms or less, i changed it to 213/u what is a copper braid not a silver braid a little bit less conductive what really you want from a valve to solid-state, try 2.5 or 4 m length probably not shorter! if you're going valve to valve or solid state to solid-state or solid-state to valve use rg214/u. Valve amplifiers like to be driven harder higher voltage not the same for solid-state the opposite
I had a Duna70 in the late 70's and replaced it only because i wanted more power. In the late 80's I picked up a Jolida 502a that had more power, after I modified it the sound was good but the cost of a set of new output tubes was a bit much. I ended up replacing that with a Gaffler d220 which I put new driver boards into. It sounded very good but to get the best sound I had to bias it on the high side to get the best sound with my Conrad Johnson PV-10a. For the best compromise is a tube preamp with a good solid state amp, currently I have the Rogue RP5 preamp and a set of PS Audio m700 mono blocks, thats a good sounding setup driving my Elac Adante floor standing speakers.
I purchased a yaqin mc13 s 10 yrs ago because i just loved the way it look & it was cheap & reliable £350. But it does lack clarity & punch. I think i may be purchasing an upgrade very soon.
I'm still running the Tube Amp from my Granddad the only thing I have done is replaced the caps and the Tubes :) This Amp drives my Urei 809 Speakers. Thank you for your video!
Personally, I will always choose EL84. I have a Manley Stingray that I simply love. I have carefully listened to many different tubes for a long period and there is always something missing, but EL84 is a complete tube for me. That EL84 has less bass than other tubes is not true and if it is, it depends on how you have built the amplifier itself and what output transformer you have used. I prefer push-pull amp because it gives me more opportunity to choose many different speakers. For example, I can choose my favorite speakers with less sensitivity and still get good pressure in the speakers What I like more about EL84 is that there are so many tubes for sale, everything from vintage, nos, new and they can be anything from cheap to expensive. I'm probably a tube fan and have a good collection of EL84, ECC81 and ECC83 tube. The sound can vary sharply depending on which tube you drive with. I have a good opportunity to customize my tube amp depending on whether I play rock, blues, jazz, soul.
now for a serious tube related comment.my first tube amp i aquired in the 1980's.it was a kit amp from heathkit.i obtained it used so someone else built it.this amp had 6l6gc tubes in it.i remember how much i loved that thing.just to add i was a teenager at the time.my taste has changed a bit since then.the last tube amp i owned was a few years back.it had el84's driven by a single 12ax7.the sound of that thing was sublime.i do have 98db efficent speakers.so i can slide by with low power.i think the next piece of tube gear im going to try.it is defo gonna be a schiit audio freya+.
Great video. The simple distillation into 3 key points drove home an important message. While I use tube amps now for 8 years, I have only used the same amps. I got lucky and like it. But many tube amps I hear at audio shows I do not like. It will be interesting next time for me to keep your 3 things in mind when I got to the next show and see what my preferences are. I think an evolution could be to bi amp or tri amp so you can use SE class A for mid and hi and KT150 PP for low end.
I think I'm going to order some scanspeak discovery 8 inch woofers and soft dome tweeters 4 ohm models and build some large bookshelf speakers to use hoping the finished speakers will have about 92db sensitivity
Best advice for a beginner buying a tube amplifier....(1)Check out the build quality of the amplifier and components .point to point wiring is easier to fix or modify in the future. Circuit boards are nice and will last as long as they are not exposed to heat. (2) Does it use common tubes? All the tubes that are used on or in the amplifier have an effect on the sound quality of the amplifier .the larger the choices of the tubes that will work on the amplifier, the more choices you have in presentation of the sound made by the amplifier. If it takes a weird or off the wall tube,You have less choices in voicing the amplifier. (3) look at the efficiency of the speakers you plan on driving with the amplifier. If you have high efficiency speakers ,they don't need as much power to drive as lower efficiency ones. (4)Any equipment you buy is an investment, You want to enjoy your investment and if or when you sell it,You would want it to keep its value and in many cases you would want or like for it to increase in value.You can put all the Uber expensive capacitors and resistors you want on a cheap amplifier ,It will still be a cheap amplifier...
Hello Thomas, I have a pair of '93 La Scala AL3 and a pair of '87 Heresy II that I want to dedicate to 2ch. I did minimal research and jumped into the Decware se34i.5: 6w x2, single ended triode, not really knowing much about tube amplifiers. It is in the process of being built and I am excited, the only thing is, I've never listened to a tube amplifier and I think I've made the right decision, I hope. I do enjoy vocals, horn instruments, classical guitar and hope it will be an upgrade over my AVR, "Yamaha RX-A1080." Love watching your videos and thank you for your knowledge.
I purchased the A12. Found the sound a little veiled at times. Rolled in some NOS Flying C 34’s and new TungSol 12AX pre. Stupid good sound- very clear with good recordings ( running with Klipsch RP600M) these are still breaking in but really amazing details and separation for a budget kit. Have a sub in line as well which helps fill in low end. I’ll tweak now- cables will be first- building my own- too cheap to fork out crazy money🤫
NOS Flying C34's? What are these please? I guess you rolled out the stock EL34's with the NOS Flying C34's, but I don't specifically know what they are and I am looking for potential options! I understand the replacement TungSol 12AX7 Pre-amp tubes; did you replace the 5Z4PJ rectifier tube too, and if so what with please? My A12 has just arrived and waiting for my Triangle Borea BR03 to arrive tomorrow to start messing about...
1. I don’t have a favourite tube but have used 6V6, EL84, EL34, 6550 and KT88. Each one has pros and cons 2. I have only tried EL84SE and amps are so dependent on the quality of the iron that I won’t say one is better than the other except that the iron required for PP is smaller than that required for SE (the EL84SE was sweeter than the PP but again you have a different topology). 3. There are many amps I like, including solid state and tube, both class A and Class AB.
Great post, thanks. What I find most confusing and practically no-one talks about this for whatever reason, as perhaps, they just assume people know, is what speakers can different tube amps drive in terms of efficiency? I know synergy is a different matter and personal taste. I'm looking to drive 86Db, 8 Ohm speakers (quite neutral and revealing with a tiny bit of warmth) and finding it hard to get any answers.
Well done ! I ended up with a Made in USA SET amp can run Triode or Ultralinear mode as well as autobiases EL34 and KT88 tubes.. Best of all worlds !!!
My VAC PA 100 100 TUBE AMP is push pull altralinear and weights in at 78 lbs l bought it back in 1995 along with a ARC LS15 tube pre amp They are still going strong after all these years!The VAC came with Golden Dragon KT 88's I just recently replaced them with the Golden lions KT 88's as per VAC recommendations I've always loved this amp/pre amp combo and hopefully they will out last me
Spot on.. Just few things may not be very clear for some. Single Ended equals class A Push Pull equals to class A/B Class A in a transistor amp eliminates the distortion of a switching transistor from the positive to the negative path of signal on A/B class. Class A/B has min 2 transistor per channel. Now tube amps are coloured and distorted and a class A or Single Ended implementations doesn’t make any sense to me. A classic Dynaco topology with a P/P el34 and 35watt would be the ideal sweet spot for most. From here the magic from an amp, especially a tube one, comes from the power supply and because of it the Dynaco was sounding that good. That’s why todays japanese and italian tube amps tend to sound better than chinese ones. Long story short a good modern implementation of a Dynaco ST35 with 35 watts would be the ideal tube amp for most regardless of price. Just download schematics and DIY. This is my opinion only made from having build 63 tube amps of any topology. I suggest el34 for mids or kt88 for tonal balance an power. (70watts). From here and after 22 years building electronics I have learned one lesson which is: nothing can beat a good pure class A transistor amp. Nothing regardless of price spent. I came to this conclusion with age. The more distortions, even the good sounding ones coming from tubes, the more infos the brain have to process. This with age translates in fatigue in the long run especially for aged chaps. Now all of this is my experience and my own toughs and opinions.
An update to my original post here concerning the R800i and R8. I recently (about 3 months ago) bought the rather amazing Willsenton R800i (805 version). I also own the R8 which I've owned for over a year now. First, throw the stock tubes in the bin! This applies to both amps. Tubes that I recommend for the R800i: Mullard M8162 military spec 12AT7 high output. Yes, you can use the 12AT7 in place of the 12AX7 in the R800i. Sylvania 6SN7 GTA NOS straight plates (circa early 1960's). The Sophia Electric 6SN7 blue glass coke bottle tube is surprisingly good in this position as well - great bass, clean, clear and crisp top end and a really nice midrange. Takatsuki TA-300B - magnificent sounding tube. Genuine NOS WE 300B are almost as good as are the very well made reissue WE 300B, but the Takatsuki is more to my personal taste. I've also tried the PSVane Acme Series 300B and the Takatsuki's blow the doors off the PSVane's even though the PSVane's are actually quite good - that is, until you hear the Takatsuki's! PSVane Acme Series 805 Svetlana 5U4G NOS rectifier tube. Tubes that I recommend for the R8: MELZ 6SL7 (circa 1952 in my case) Sylvania 6SN7 GTA NOS straight plates (circa early 1960's). Mullard EL34 NOS (circa early 1960 - XF2 made at the Blackburn factory in Great Britain) I am using the Sylvania 6SN7 NOS angled plate as the rectifier tube. ALL tubes are as close to perfectly matched as possible, or otherwise within a 5% tolerance of each other. Likewise, dual triode tubes (12AX7, 12AT7, 6SN7) are also as perfectly balanced as possible. Bear in mind that the matching/balancing of tubes is just as important as the tube you decide to use. Depending on your taste, either amp could be an endgame amp with the R800i sounding magnificent while the R8 with its push/pull design and lower output would suite something akin to the Klipsch Heresy or perhaps even the Klipsch Forte or Cornwall. Nice efficient open-baffles designs would likewise be an excellent choice, providing you can accommodate them in your listening space. The Klipsch's are high sensitivity speakers and the synergy between the R8 (in triode mode) is simply wonderful; especially with the Heresy's. Personally, I've only tried the R8 with the Klipsch Heresy IV, so my view in using the Forte's or Cornwall's is only an assumption. I drive a pair of the Q Acoustics Concept 500's with the R800i. Both systems with a high end front end (turntable and/or steaming platform) sound absolutely to die for. Ignore these amps initial price as the price has absolutely nothing to do with the performance that's possible from these two amps from Willsenton. The sound is all in the tubes that you use!
Thanks Thomas for all you do for us. One thing we could get your advice on - if bass definition is important, rather than bass punch, along with the airiness of high-end. What amps should we be looking at? Is this where we should look at single ended? We should also be looking at EL34? Speakers are 90db efficient, listen at 60-70db max. Bloated bass must be avoided at all cost.
I went for firstwatt mosfet amps because it sounded more correct than my old tube amp, but it was a bit dry. So I built the Korg Notube B1 preamp with flouredcent calculator tubes for more second harmonics.
nice review Thomas.Something folks should consider with push pull is how essential good tubes are in the phase inverter stage.a good tube such as GL 12au7 can make a difference.In many ways the phase inverters are the "heart "of a push pull circuit.
Most people can't say they prefare single ended or push pull as they simply buy their tube amp for say a grand and will never be able to buy another to do a comparison , , I have an icon audio 20pp a starter tube amp , but not knowing what I was buying into ,as most people can't really get the opportunity to audition many amps , anyway I love the sound through my rp600m
A colleague of mine, specialist in simulation software and electronics engineering says he can make any solid state amp sound like a tube amp. He simulated his listening room, including furniture, curtains, everything. I'm pretty sure he's right. He now uses 3 stereo class D amps with 8th order (4th order Butterworth + 4th order Chebyshev) filtering in his self designed dynamic speakers awaiting the moment he has spare time to finish his electrostatic speakers. Looking at the frequency and phase response of tube amps and how he's able to change it all, I'm pretty sure he's right.
I like both SE and PP.. It all depends in the overall design and implementation.. For relatively higher powered SET, I like the GM70 more these days than the 845 or 211 types.. For micropower I like the 45, 46, or 50 directly heated triode.. Those are just samplings of output tube preferences for SET using directly heated triodes.
I have always been curious about Fluxion’s sound and quality since they are priced reasonably. He makes so many variations… would love to see you review his amps with popular tubes configurations.
I recall Fluxion to be a single person that hand builds every single unit, one at a time. Impressive skills yet I don't know the sound quality of his amps.
Thanks for this Thomas, next year I will buy my first tube amp for my klipsh speakers. Im leaning towards a r8 el34 but you're upcoming studies may help me here. Either way I learnt a lot today about push/pull and single ended.
Fanboy alert! I love my R8. Among being able to choose between el34 and kt88, easy and relatively inexpensive tube rolling, and being able to choose between triode and ultralinear modes the R8 can be voiced so many different ways. It is endlessly fun and such a bargain.
Awesome vid Thomas I have 2 amps one a Yaqin and Conrad Johnson one triode and Pentoide and your right its about taste so keep up your awesome vids bro cheers
Ok My favorite tubes with the Doge 10 MK2-B (Kt88-Kt120-12ax7-12at7) Well depends on the speaker pairing . With speakers that present more of a 'forward lively presentation' I prefer the Psvane classic (Reds) for Pre/power These tubes are in contrast not as aggressive as my other tubes the Psvane are more layed back (Smooth-rounder) Great layering/depth and localization,(Soundstage) Warm midrange . caveats The Psvane clarity suffers just a lil bit but still accurate . Now with speakers that are not as forward or lively i prefer to use the full set of Golden Lions , The Golden lions are what i call a hot tube that has top end extension (lively) with very good clarity and detail retriaval , The Golden lions have very solid dynamic peaks And lots of AiRYness in my soundstage . and low-end bass with Golden lions are also a lil stronger than the Psvane classic , Only caveat with Golden lions the upper treble can have a bite to it 100 hours of burn in helps alot but still has a bite to it or can be a lil aggressive . Midrange is clean with barley a nibble of warmth . Now for my speakers that love power and that can be a lil on the dry side I prefer the Tungsol Kt120s these tubes are dynamic ! With very good attack and strong low-end bass , The top end has what i call 'Sizzle' yes the top is a lil extended but not overly extended the midrange is fuller than both the Psvane/Golden lions but the Tungsol midrange is surprisingly clean Vicals have bring more emotion , caveats with Kt120s they like lots of voltage and their just a lil more powerful than kt88 yes low-end is stronger and dynamics/Attack are insane but i don't get the depth/layering/localization like i do with psvane and the Golden lions have better Airyness than the Tungsol . But again the Tungsol have better Low-end bass dynamics attack and i love the top end sizzle with my polk lsim 703s the tungsol Kt120 tamed the treble of the polk lsim 703 IMHO the Polks Hercules heel . My favorite tubes in order based on all of my speakers 1st Psvane classics kt88 And its a tie between the Tungsol kt120 And The Golden lions kt88 . But this list really is actually irrelevant And based again on my Personal Synergy and what speakers i am using so theirs no clear winner , I just have to many Speakers with a lively forward presentation . !! So heres my Book Thomas I almost Deleted because i am giving away my furure doge review that drops in September but the ? Is will my 52 pound Yamaha AS-1100 👑 be dethroned or outclassed by the Doge ? And the 🏆 will be compared to my Vintage Monster 👑 The Sansui G8000 the 2nd biggest reciver built by Sansui that has incredable power that brings that warm lush richness to the table sort of speak Lol just gave my whole expirerence away dang it !
You know Thomas, watching your videos, I got into tube preamp few months ago then ordered a tube amp from Cayin last week and they are still on the way, they came with EL34 and I have ordered some KT88 to play around with. With this video, its like now I have to get another single ended ones to hear out the PURE thing that you talking about.
Loved your tube amp breakdown Thomas! That Willsenton R800i at 48 watts per channel truly sounds special. I had no idea it had that amount of wattage. Unfortunately I can’t afford a $2400 amplifier. Keep the videos coming!
I've never owned a stereo tube amplifier but it looks very intriguing to incorporate one in to my system. The only point of reference I have on tube amplifiers outside of the few I've heard at my local stereo dealership is with guitar amplifiers and I can say that I wish I had bypassed solid-state amplifiers from the very beginning because tube amplifiers have the tone and ambience far more reminiscent of a concert hall than their solid state counterparts. So to make a long story short the same principle should apply to stereo tube amps as it does with guitar tube amps in comparison to their solid-state counterparts generally speaking. Thanks Thomas for your tips on this engaging topic.
I agree with about tube over solid state for guitar amps. Kind of funny that guitarist love tube amps for light break up to pure distortion. When we start using tube amps into a stereo system we want and need just the opposite. I have both tube and SS, however what works for me the best is a quality tube preamp with a class a/ab amp. I have also started experimenting with tube preamp with class d amps. Jury is still out on how that is going to work out !
Nice video! I have a Woo WA6 SE single ended headphone amp, and love it. The main sonic difference is with the rectifier tube, splurged for a WE422; tried pretty much all signal tubes, and differences are much more subtle, currently have a 13DE7 (I believe that's the type). I also have tubes in phono stage (EAT eglo petite) and in my new preamp (PrimaLuna EVO 300). Just got it a month a go, so still exploring. Again, rectifiers make more of a difference, and it has no power tubes, but much better soundstage and 3D imaging. Also love the PL300 for clarity and 3D presentation. I did not go for tube power amp, as output resistance/damping factor is typically very poor, e.g., on the PrimaLuna DF of 1-2! and that leads to sound coloration with (variable impedance) speakers (two resistor voltage splitter). So went solid state (have a PassLabs XA-25 in production). When it comes to tubes, I would not only focus on the power tubes, but also rectifier and signal tubes (12AU7, 12AX7, etc). Going separates gives you the best of both worlds: tube pre, SS power. For low power amps like headphone, one can use tubes in a "power"-amp. my 2c.
I have only tried 2 tubes on my Schiit audio Freya 2 (Tung Sol 6sn7 gtb, and General Electric 6sn7 gtb. I do not have a favorite. The Tung Sol has better detail, the General Electric have better holography.). I like the sound so far. My power amp is a hybrid. Tubes on input stage, solid state output. I am pretty happy with my setup, even though it is in too small a room.
Let me know 1) What is your favorite tube and why? 2) Do you prefer push-pull or single-ended? 3) Do you like your tube amp? 4) Are you planning to try a tube amp in the future?
Benefits of using tubes: th-cam.com/video/9f5iV80jAe0/w-d-xo.html
Here are some comments from Mr. Vintage that I left out from the video. Please keep in mind we are generalizing here.
Mr. Vintage: For me, the biggest difference between Single-ended and push-pull design is the image (結像力), the SE is sharp like the Zeiss lens while the push-pull is a little loose by comparison. It was 6V6 that inspired me to enter the "tube world". The magic of the 6V6 tube driving a pair of Dynaco A25 could not be found on all my Marantz, Sansui, Pioneer, Kenwood...SS amplifiers. The 6L6 follows the footprint of the 6V6 but has blended in the flavor of the EL34. I find the 6L6 performs the best on the McIntosh 240 Poweramp and even today I don't think you can find another amp that surpasses the 6L6 of the Mcintosh MC240. The NOS 6V6GT tubes are still available and affordable, this is something I like to explore，I think its mid-range rivals the SE designs in Push-pull. The bass is a bit lean but it is tuneful and has a good definition.
For sure 6L6 ,having tried 7 different brands hands down Tungsol 7581A.
I have pretty limited experience with tubes (compared with some here, anyway), but I will say I quite like my vintage push-pull 6BQ5 receiver. The best experience I've ever had with a tube was a GE red label 5670 in a DAC, though in the future I look forward to hearing 6N6P tubes in a DAC's output section. Some other really interesting tubes out there that seem cool, though I have not heard... The 50CA10 is an interesting power triode that can be found in vintage Luxman amplifiers. I'd love to get my hands on one of those. And of course, the 12AX7 and 12AU7 deserve some credit for being easy to find and getting so many people into tube audio.
I use 6L6 on push pull configuration
Do I like it? Yes
One thing i observe is, in a push pull configuration, the impact of tube rolling (change brand) is subtle, while on single-ended topology it is more notable
Correct me if I am wrong since this is just generalization from my limited experience
4
@@HercahyoAdiSaputro You are 100% correct
Thomas, you are one of the great voices in the audio community. Your style and storytelling is so illuminating and unique. You should write a book- I bet it will be a best seller!
I second that. great review with a more intimate style. Can tell he is not reading off a script.
I agree with what has been said about Thomas. His presentation is informal & intimate...like he's a very cool & knowledgeable audiophile friend...just talking to me.
Luis, you hit it out of the park. Thomas gives you information in a way that is non bias and uplifting.
6:00 thank you so much for giving this rough guide to tube sound, you don't find this anywhere else online! Instead reviewers focus far to much on build quality, inputs / outputs, price etc. and leave out the most important part. Keep doing what you're doing, you're one of the most helpful hifi channels on TH-cam.
As a “newbie” to the world of Tube amps, I must say that this video is incredible. I learned so much and at least have a base to begin investigating what is right for me. I am looking forward to binging through the rest of your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of information in a very clear and concise manner
so, what did you chose ? :)
Bought the Reisong A10 a year ago, my first tube amp. Tom is right, great midrange but lacked bass & punch for me. Bought the Willsenton R8 OMG! what a difference! This one is a keeper! Have no intention of trying something else. Exceeded my expectations Very Very happy! Best sounding Amp I ever owned over 50 years of being a audiophile.
Congrats!
Can listen to you wax poetic on hifi gear all day. Thank you for your vlogs. Love them.
My favorite tube is the EL34b in the Reisong A10. I prefer single ended amps or Class A amps. I absolutely love my Reisong A10. The sound is absolutely beautiful and the quality and detail put into this unit is outstanding. This is the best amp I’ve owned thus far and I will never buy a solid state amp again. For me this is an entry level amp and I am seriously considering buying a more powerful tube amp again. I really appreciate Reisong as a company because they share their schematics and as an electronics hobbyist I find this educational. I also am grateful how this company has made this technology financially accessible to everyone.
Thank you for your excellent commentary !
Indeed. I have enjoyed my Reisong A10 for a year or so, not going anywhere soon. Sweet, non fatiguing sound. Plenty of power to drive my 99dB/w speakers in my apartment 🤘
My speaker are 90db are they in the a10 ballpark I love the look of this amp
Hi I have heard a lot about A10 and A50. Anyone tried both ?😊
Number # 1 advice from a Tube owner, make sure your Air Conditioner is big enough to cool your Tube Gear! :)
Just found your channel. I have zero experience with tube amps and this was extremely enlightening.
Glad it was helpful!
Absolutely brilliant Thomas, this video is very close to my heart as I am on this tube Journey with you. I will say that having a sensitive speaker opens up lots more options and should be a careful consideration.
I just purchased a Tekton lore 96db efficiency upgraded version mondolf capacitor upgraded crossover from the company $1300 fantastic speaker excellent resolution excellent bass beautiful mid range my tube amps never sounded better
I use the Primaluna prologue pre amp running Mullard gz34 & Mullard CV4003 12AU7 valves paired with a Plinius RA 300 solid state power amp running into Focal Sopra 2 speakers ... Changing to NOS tubes made a huge difference , All going well so far , Thanks Thomas for an excellent audio channel that's very informative ... 😎
Lookin foreword the review. The WilsentonR8 was my first “ new” tube amp and I have a 10watt L84 based vintage amp. The old amp whispered in my ear years ago that “ hey , this what you want”.
The R8 has let me know “ that old amp was right”.
When I move up, it will be the bigger Wilsenton.
Guess I’m a “ tube guy” now.. happy to be here:)
Which speakers are you using with the Wilsenton?
@@sepsism138 Klipsch Heresy IVs with a Sunfire Eq sub. Thorens TT , ifi Zen phono
@@dougg1075 Nice! Thanks for confirming.
In order to take advantage of the best qualities of each part of a system, I prefer separates. I use a Tube Pre to get the tube sound and holographic effect, then via an active crossover, I send mids and highs to a solid state class A and lastly, my 2 servo subs use class D.
What about tube pre to a tube amp for the mids and highs and a class a for the subs?
Very nice. I love having that much control over a system.
This exactly what I’m in the process of doing. What active crossover are you using?
@@MrBonger88 Bryston 10B-SUB. It's pricey but it's transparent and that is a huge deal when inserting anything between a pre and an amp. It's a worthwhile investment.
@@ranbymonkeys2384 Class D is the most effective and efficient way to drive subs.
Thomas your a legend. I appreciate all your knowledge and how well you convey your message.
Thomas man, a decade ago I was a guitar player who played guitar tube amps for 30+ years and was starting to build my first hifi. A tube integrated was the logical choice but the choices seemed to be really cheap and unreliable stuff or super expensive stuff. What you have done this past year in highlighting good quality mid priced tube gear would have been SO amazing for me at the start of my hifi journey!!!!!!! I know that many people entering the hifi journey will absolutely have a wealth of info that was not available to me a decade ago. Your tube series of reviews is truly a great contribution to the community!!
I’m finding the importance of finding and using quality tubes , huge in dictating the listening experience . Many of these amps come with bottom end tubes not even correctly biased . That is a huge topic in itself .
Yup and replacement intervals for tubes. Too costly
I found this presentation to be very informative and offering key points on what to consider before purchasing a tube amp. The vast world of tubes and their combinations can be overwhelming and again you help us so very much. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I am learning about amps little by little. It's so hard when you do not have access to different types of amps to know what you like or dont like, without of course experimentation, which can be prohibitively expensive. As I take my second foray into tubes I am trying to read and watch as many videos as I can, but there's no substitute for having the item in your home hooked up to your equipment. I very much look forward to your video on the R800i
Great video Thomas. As an avid user of tube amps for guitar, I'm thinking about buying one for my audio rig. You have such a clear way of explaining things, I always learn tons from your work. Thank you for sharing your experience with us newbies.
I second that!
I'm using hybrid separate system. Parasound Halo P6 PreAmp and Primaluna Dialogue Primium PowerAmp. Works well so far.
Really cool to go solid state pre and tube power amp.
@@ThomasAndStereo hello Thomas. Thanks for replying. Me and my wife both watch your channel. Really appreciate you. Yes solid pre. As my system does double duty. For HT duty as well. The Parasound P6 gives the HT bypass. Speakers are FYNEAUDIO F502sp towers and PARADIGM Seismic 110 sub for HT duty along with centers and surrounds of course.
@@ThomasAndStereo Btw can you kindly share your opinion on Primaluna amps? As you get to compare with lot of other Tube amps. Your inputs will be very helpful and valuable. The Dialogue premium new was around $3k USD when new or till a year back. I got mine in 2019 and paid a little less then listed price. But apparently Primaluna holds value quite well. I had Prologue Premium before. Upgraded to Dialogue in 2019. Both are replaced by the Evolution line now I suppose.
@@sahdinkhan1827 I believe he said they are excellent Amplifier integrated‘s as well but they are pricey nowadays you can get one for 1/3 the price that is 90% the sound of
prima Luna
@@stephencosta6814 thanks for your input man. yup they are pricey no doubt. I Started tube with Icon Audio Stereo 40.2 Mkiii intigrated back in 2015. All British made. Before that always ran all solid state separates. After the Icon Audio i moved to Primaluna and started experimenting with Hybrid system. Ran a Cayin intigrated for few weeks can't remember the model. Then went back to Primaluna. First Prologue then Dialogue the bigger one.
Back in the day I purchased Carver Silver 9Ts. That was an obscene amount of money back then! My 9Ts power my ol’ school Polk SRA-SDS 1.2tls (also run two (2) Velodyne FSR-18 subs). Every 5 years I have the amps serviced (cleaned, replace all tubes, etc), which I have done for the past 30+ years. The 1.2tls (I am the original owner) have been restored.
My 9Ts still sound amazing! Yes, I own old equipment but my ol’ school gear still images beautifully.
Now that my financial position has improved, I can afford to pay cash for new gear. I recently purchased a Sony XBR-77A9GG OLED tele, an ATV 4K and two (2) SVS PC-4000 subs. Next will be Polk L800 (with L900’modules). Have not decided on an amp or processor.
People shit on me because my commitment to Polk. My ears like Polk and that’s all that matters to me.
Nice job of finding an interesting angle and explanation of the overwhelming experience of listening to so many reviewers and their personal opinion on a vague subject . ( the norm in hiring?) As always a great informative listen . This should be a amplifier 101 even before they start listening to individual reviewers . Especially with resurgence and popularity of tube integrated amps .
I get most of the pleasure of experimenting HiFi..... Without having to spend any money.
Thanks for getting me through the pandemic
Single ended triode on the tweeter, pure class A solid state on the midrange, and Solid state Class D on the bass , tri-wire configuration! Got it!!
There is no contest. The big iron gets the biggest sound. All the best, and most transparent amps, the ones that defied amplification and just became the music seamlessly... they all have the name Bogen. And they all date from the early 60s and earlier. The original work horses were the austere, multi purpose MO60 and MO100. A few tweaks and those amps are the best thing you'll ever hear. Even without those tweaks, they'll serve any audiophile a top ten performance. It doesn't matter that they often wound up hammering nails or shaking huge tables, they offered the largest frequency response of all the tube spectrum. 5hz-50khz. Yes, really. I just flipped two sets of dual mono blocks for obscene money, locally... I began using them in the studio to critically study mixes... they're simply stellar. Often overlooked, because the later Bogens were not that great. Also because they are basic, black boxes with zero bling. All business. The BP60 would have been a game changer... but too few were made... if you find one, keep it! You'll never see another. At the base of each great tube amp is the iron. Bogen had the BEST. It's a fine art. To replicate those amps now, domestically, would command a price of 10k for two 100 watt mono blocks. TRIPLE RECTIFIED!!! And never bested, IMO.
The whole tube-thing is new for me. I purchased a Leben CS300 and replaced it by the CS300f . I can tell these are different! Thanks for your interesting video, I did learn a lot.
Hi Thomas, when getting into my decision/making process on a new amp about 5 month ago, I watched literaly all of your videos and pretty much enjoyed all of those - same with this video.
Ultimately, I ended up with a Line Magnetic LM-211, one of the smaller verisons of LM, running EL34 in push pull. And yes, I have been close to purchase one of these 805 or 845 tube single ended monsters, but was ultimately kept back from both price in Germany and heat dissipation (0.5 KW !) which would heat up my listening room too much during summer.
But to my huge surprize, the sound I am getting with my Sonus Faber Cremona V1 is so great, sweet, and yet dynamic that I do not want to go back to solid state.
Yes, I agree with you that its ultimately about tube type and curcuitry preference - but, the first move is to go from solid state to tubes at all! And, for most whoalready have speakers that ar capable for tume amps this step will be a quantum leap!
So, thanks for all your great videos and your unrivalled way of explaining things!
Favourite Tube 845 Push Pull Class A, tube rolling to PSVANE was the right decision. Very happy. Amps are Cary 211 Mono Blocks 75 watts
I like your sober or matter of fact approach very much!
I very much enjoyed this video. A simple breakdown of a topic too often guarded by high brow practitioners.
I solved all the issues to do with tube amps by sticking with very good solid state amplification and realizing that, as long as all the system components produce high quality accurate, neutral sound, the greatest influence on sound quality are the source recordings.
Great overview of some popular tubes. Thank you!
I'll take ... the Leben CS-300 in the bottom right corner for the win please Alex
I've been in tubes for many months already and these are by no means for beginners, even people who already own tube amps can learn from these.
Love the Stories Thomas…. Thank You.
Glad you like them!
From Spain my favorite reviwer... to categorize is what i spect from a review. Sold my Naim gear and keeping my Reisong A10 but I feel to need to uograde but keeping in Class A single ended... very easy to listen in fact
All you reviewers are making tube amps the hot product of 2021!!!!
Wow, i finally found a guru that will guide me on my journey to the world of vacuum tubes. Thank you very much for the great video!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks, Thomas, for laying this out at the beginner level, which is pretty close to the mark for me with tube amplifiers. Given the limited efficiencies of my speakers, I may not get to try tubes anytime soon despite my interest in them. Nonetheless, I appreciate how with all of your videos you show your reasoning as you inform and explain about the topic at hand. Knowing more about things, even those I may never buy or experience, is allowing me to better understand how my system components work together and choices to be made as I look to improve or add to what I have.
Great video. But I must say that the power and output transformers play an enormous role as well. The weight of similarly constructed tube amps can reveal which has the generally better output transformers.
I used to have the hot rodded 'original' version of the Willsenton R800i (Line Magnetic LM805IA). It comes with better build than the Willsenton but with cheaper tubes. It still sounds better. Both have a grip over the bass drivers and a finesse over the mids and treble that push pull can't offer at anywhere near the same price. Think double the price just to be in the ballpark. I demo'd my LM805IA against the PrimaLuna EVO400 Integrated and, even with hotrodded NOS tubes, the PL EVO got demolished in every genre. It was an absolute runaway victory when I used NOS tubes in the LM805IA.
No bass amps being discussed here, but these big radio transmitter SET tubes (805, 845, 211) do things that push pull amps just can't. Period. End of story.
Thomas! What an awesome video. Well done, sir
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for dropping by!
Triode TRV-88SER is my long-term tube amp…beautiful vocals, meaty bass and looks to die for!
I've been lusting after the LM 508ia for ages - game recognizes game - you're excitement for the R800i is a give away 😄
The r800i is a cheaper copy of the LM508ia. But without full point to point wiring or the upgraded caps/resistors. I am not sure if the r800i has the Japanese EL core output transformers of the Line Magnetic, either. Weights are very similar though.
Run in stock setup is meant to be great but gather the clans and get those tubes rolled!
And reading between the lines of those V shaped speakers that you like: holographic air, fast punchy quality bass and dynamics 😉
@@KeenAesthetic1 Agreed. NOS tubes, even if only on the small input tubes, bring HUGE gains.
I actually use and prefer speakers with great imaging but neutral on-axis and listening window responses. Solid bass, too. But that hologram of the performer standing in your room is a drug for me.
Thanks for the great video Thomas, I just bought BoyuuRange mk3 50, and wow 7.6 watts per channel. My biggest surprise is that it can power my sonus faber sonetto viii 90db sensitivity no problem. Love the sound 🔊
I have this amp too. I also love it and it drives my 88dB 4ohm Magico A3s with no problem, as well!
@@RJ_Chicago nice, did you roll your 300Bs
@@blejzerosamigos6115 No. At least not yet. Mine came with Psvanes. Have you rolled them yet and if so with what tubes and with what results?
@@RJ_Chicago I bought gold lions px300b, still in burn in stages but they seem little more refined
I have a Reisong A-10 tube amp. I live in a mobile home and have it in a very small spare bedroom contacted to Klipsch RM 600s. It sounds great whether thru the phono or cd.
SET is class a. The incoming signal is not split and beat up. In push-pull, it's class A-B. Each circuit handles one half of the input signal. The two signals are then splice together. This gluing creates a distortion, crossover distortion. More circuitry is added to eliminate and smooth that crossover distortion. Some amps the amplitude of the frequency at the splice is reduced along with the other half thus their is a blend of both signals in an area where both produce the sound creating an impure signal. The class a-b will usually have more power for obvious reasons - single circuit can only produce so much. Long ago A/D/S made class a car amps. The sound was phenomenal and loud. Unfortunately, they had a habit of burning up due to being class a and without ginormous heat sinks. Had one in a car in the early 90s and which people still talk about today. As an end note, class a-b solid state has come a long way, such that crossover distortion shouldn't be an issue in any competent amp.
Currently using a Type 85 tube based preamp feeding a bi amped system where the mids and highs are driven by a 300B SET amp and the lows are driven by a diy solid state amp based on the Gibson Lab Series guitar amp with large 150,000 microfarad capacitors in the power supply.
@Laurentz, Type 85 preamplifier tubes from the 1930s can be an iffy engineering proposition due to their low current output but they do sound like something "God" would use - the Type 85 tube definitely sounds heavenly.
Thanks Thomas. I’m just starting into proper tube amps. Bought a used/inexpensive EL84 Mengyue Mini recently, updated the tubes, and am amazed by how it sounds. Have been looking at the R8 for a few weeks.
Don’t hesitate on the R8. I bought one and upgraded all the tubes. It’s an excellent amp especially for it’s low price!
Looking forward to your video on tubes, man! I like yout channel as well! ;)
yeah tubes sound awesome :)
Hi Thomas single ended with active bass, could have stayed in that room all day, Manchester hifi show, about 10 Yr ago... Now give us good choice of speakers to go with these lovely amplifiers.. Thanks Thomas,, regards Antony Warrington..
Thanks!
Thanks a million for your support.
I have had a Reisong A10 for about one year. I have been tube rolling several EL34's (Tung Sol is the best so far) and KT77. I have swapped out the stock rectifier for a mid 60's ex-RAF Mullard CV 1863. I have also swapped out the 6N2Js for NOS JSC Voskhod 6N2P-EB/6AX7. I am well pleased with the sound.
1. I don't have a favorite tube i.e., EL34, KT88, etc. as I have not had enough experience with a variety of tube amps.
2. Same as above. However in solid state I prefer class A.
3. So far I am enjoying the Reisong very much. In a word, it is salubrious.
4. Yes. I am planning on trying additional tube amps.
Interesting. I have the same amp, Reisong A10. I found changing the rectifier made it sound too much like "solid state" even thou using the same "type" of rectifier. I have tried the Russian equivalent 5Ц4С (5U4S) and also Brimar 5Z4G (CV1863). I find the amp sounds the sweetest (tube like) with those original ShuGuang 5Z4P (J) it shipped with. Maybe there is is enough difference electrically between these same "types" rectifiers after all and its designed to use the original tube. Not sure if i'm imagining it or not (i don't think so), don't have any measurement tools to confirm.
Anyhow, because of that, i have stocked quite a few of those original type rectifiers. I really do like the amp. Oh, also noticed that its best to be plugged in a dedicated wall socket and not use any extension cords shared with other devices, it changed the background noise even better (less), i did not think about that first because its so low wattage, but it did make a difference. My speakers are sensitive to background hiss/noise, 99dB/w, Klipsch Heresy III. Currently my favourite combo for the other tubes are the Russian 6N2P-EV signal tubes and Mullard EL34 (current production). Also used Tung-Sol EL34, but now they are for backups. Can listen to this little beast of a amp for hours / whole day without even a hint of listening fatigue compared to a normal solid state stuff i also have. 👍
@@johto if you check out the voltage drop between the rectifier tubes you are using,They can and will effect the sound quality of the amplifier.
Another thing to consider is the rectification rail on the amplifier. A majority of the rails are either 5v-1.9amp which would be a 5ar4, It has the least amount of voltage drop.A 5v-2a which would be for tubes like 5y3.normally low powered low milliamp 125 max circuits.
Then the 5v-3a like the 5u4 family of rectifiers,which can handle 250ma.
Where a majority of people go wrong with rectifier tubes is ,They will use to small of a rectifier on a circuit,Like a rectifier rated for 3a on a 2a circuit.
They will use a rectifier with less voltage drop on circuit, So the voltages are to high or they will use an undersized rectifier on a circuit,So the tube is push to its limit ,because of the MA current that is required to run the amp..
In a SE el34 amplifier, the milliamp draw of the power tubes and driver tubes, is going to be atleast 125-130ma depending on how the tubes are biased.
The voltage drop between a 5ar4 and 5u4g is roughly 42 volts,the difference between a 5ar4 and diodes is roughly 7volts...
If you wanted to customize your amp.
If you do pio coupling capacitors the sound will be smoother and rounder.and it will match up with more speakers.If you do poly or Teflon capacitors, it will sound brighter,more detailed and exact ,so fewer speakers will work with it.
Thank you for this @ Thomas & Stereo. It brings me to a very important consideration. I am looking at a change to an R8 to replace my IOTAVX SA3/PA3x2……Or keep my IOTAVX PA3 and use the Schiit Freya + as a pre-amp upgrade. The prices for the upgrade is similar between the two. My speakers are the Klipsch RP-8000F.
I appreciate all your great videos and perspective!
Yes I would go with that combination use a schiit Freya with the two power amps form iotavx make sure you use a 50ohm interconnect cable between the two something like a RG 213/u. I think you gonna lose bass control with the r8 maybe if you change the tube rectifier think it's got! for solid-state you might be alright
Or possibly I think the r8 got pre out? If so you could use it bi-amp but you need to match the impedance between the two amps use a potentiometer at 50 kohms to the pa3
@@johnsweda2999 thanks for this, question though. Why would I need a 50ohm interconnect? Is there a matching problem between the voltage gain of the PA3 and Frey’s +?
@@F1fletch yes it is a matching gain issue, all analogue signal should be 50 ohms or less, i changed it to 213/u what is a copper braid not a silver braid a little bit less conductive what really you want from a valve to solid-state, try 2.5 or 4 m length probably not shorter! if you're going valve to valve or solid state to solid-state or solid-state to valve use rg214/u. Valve amplifiers like to be driven harder higher voltage not the same for solid-state the opposite
Yes i agree classical and opera sound good on single end good stuff.
I had a Duna70 in the late 70's and replaced it only because i wanted more power. In the late 80's I picked up a Jolida 502a that had more power, after I modified it the sound was good but the cost of a set of new output tubes was a bit much. I ended up replacing that with a Gaffler d220 which I put new driver boards into. It sounded very good but to get the best sound I had to bias it on the high side to get the best sound with my Conrad Johnson PV-10a.
For the best compromise is a tube preamp with a good solid state amp, currently I have the Rogue RP5 preamp and a set of PS Audio m700 mono blocks, thats a good sounding setup driving my Elac Adante floor standing speakers.
Thank you very much for this video, been thinking about dipping my toes into tubes.
I purchased a yaqin mc13 s 10 yrs ago because i just loved the way it look & it was cheap & reliable £350. But it does lack clarity & punch. I think i may be purchasing an upgrade very soon.
I'm still running the Tube Amp from my Granddad the only thing I have done is replaced the caps and the Tubes :) This Amp drives my Urei 809 Speakers. Thank you for your video!
Rock on!
Personally, I will always choose EL84. I have a Manley Stingray that I simply love.
I have carefully listened to many different tubes for a long period and there is always something missing, but EL84 is a complete tube for me. That EL84 has less bass than other tubes is not true and if it is, it depends on how you have built the amplifier itself and what output transformer you have used.
I prefer push-pull amp because it gives me more opportunity to choose many different speakers. For example, I can choose my favorite speakers with less sensitivity and still get good pressure in the speakers
What I like more about EL84 is that there are so many tubes for sale, everything from vintage, nos, new and they can be anything from cheap to expensive.
I'm probably a tube fan and have a good collection of EL84, ECC81 and ECC83 tube.
The sound can vary sharply depending on which tube you drive with. I have a good opportunity to customize my tube amp depending on whether I play rock, blues, jazz, soul.
Nice, thanks for sharing and yes you are correct, it also depends on how the amp is made.
Thoroughly enjoyed your video. I'm looking to buying a tube amp. Cheers from New Zealand.
now for a serious tube related comment.my first tube amp i aquired in the 1980's.it was a kit amp from heathkit.i obtained it used so someone else built it.this amp had 6l6gc tubes in it.i remember how much i loved that thing.just to add i was a teenager at the time.my taste has changed a bit since then.the last tube amp i owned was a few years back.it had el84's driven by a single 12ax7.the sound of that thing was sublime.i do have 98db efficent speakers.so i can slide by with low power.i think the next piece of tube gear im going to try.it is defo gonna be a schiit audio freya+.
Great video. The simple distillation into 3 key points drove home an important message. While I use tube amps now for 8 years, I have only used the same amps. I got lucky and like it. But many tube amps I hear at audio shows I do not like. It will be interesting next time for me to keep your 3 things in mind when I got to the next show and see what my preferences are.
I think an evolution could be to bi amp or tri amp so you can use SE class A for mid and hi and KT150 PP for low end.
I have been looking for a video like this for a long time. Very, very informative. Thanks!
Thank you ,I am looking at buying my first tube amp . Trying find some high sensitivity large bookshelf speakers
I think I'm going to order some scanspeak discovery 8 inch woofers and soft dome tweeters 4 ohm models and build some large bookshelf speakers to use hoping the finished speakers will have about 92db sensitivity
Best advice for a beginner buying a tube amplifier....(1)Check out the build quality of the amplifier and components .point to point wiring is easier to fix or modify in the future. Circuit boards are nice and will last as long as they are not exposed to heat. (2) Does it use common tubes?
All the tubes that are used on or in the amplifier have an effect on the sound quality of the amplifier .the larger the choices of the tubes that will work on the amplifier, the more choices you have in presentation of the sound made by the amplifier. If it takes a weird or off the wall tube,You have less choices in voicing the amplifier.
(3) look at the efficiency of the speakers you plan on driving with the amplifier. If you have high efficiency speakers ,they don't need as much power to drive as lower efficiency ones.
(4)Any equipment you buy is an investment, You want to enjoy your investment and if or when you sell it,You would want it to keep its value and in many cases you would want or like for it to increase in value.You can put all the Uber expensive capacitors and resistors you want on a cheap amplifier ,It will still be a cheap amplifier...
Thanks for sharing.
Hello Thomas, I have a pair of '93 La Scala AL3 and a pair of '87 Heresy II that I want to dedicate to 2ch. I did minimal research and jumped into the Decware se34i.5: 6w x2, single ended triode, not really knowing much about tube amplifiers. It is in the process of being built and I am excited, the only thing is, I've never listened to a tube amplifier and I think I've made the right decision, I hope. I do enjoy vocals, horn instruments, classical guitar and hope it will be an upgrade over my AVR, "Yamaha RX-A1080." Love watching your videos and thank you for your knowledge.
I purchased the A12. Found the sound a little veiled at times. Rolled in some NOS Flying C 34’s and new TungSol 12AX pre. Stupid good sound- very clear with good recordings ( running with Klipsch RP600M) these are still breaking in but really amazing details and separation for a budget kit. Have a sub in line as well which helps fill in low end. I’ll tweak now- cables will be first- building my own- too cheap to fork out crazy money🤫
NOS Flying C34's? What are these please?
I guess you rolled out the stock EL34's with the NOS Flying C34's, but I don't specifically know what they are and I am looking for potential options!
I understand the replacement TungSol 12AX7 Pre-amp tubes; did you replace the 5Z4PJ rectifier tube too, and if so what with please?
My A12 has just arrived and waiting for my Triangle Borea BR03 to arrive tomorrow to start messing about...
Great video - the categorization of sound differences helps those beginning/already in a tube journey.
1. I don’t have a favourite tube but have used 6V6, EL84, EL34, 6550 and KT88. Each one has pros and cons
2. I have only tried EL84SE and amps are so dependent on the quality of the iron that I won’t say one is better than the other except that the iron required for PP is smaller than that required for SE (the EL84SE was sweeter than the PP but again you have a different topology).
3. There are many amps I like, including solid state and tube, both class A and Class AB.
Nice, thanks for the comment.
Great post, thanks. What I find most confusing and practically no-one talks about this for whatever reason, as perhaps, they just assume people know, is what speakers can different tube amps drive in terms of efficiency? I know synergy is a different matter and personal taste. I'm looking to drive 86Db, 8 Ohm speakers (quite neutral and revealing with a tiny bit of warmth) and finding it hard to get any answers.
i had a single-ended amp many years ago and felt it was quite clean sounding
Well done ! I ended up with a Made in USA SET amp can run Triode or Ultralinear mode as well as autobiases EL34 and KT88 tubes.. Best of all worlds !!!
Hi Thomas
Great introduction for tube amplifiers thanks
My VAC PA 100 100 TUBE AMP is
push pull altralinear and weights in at 78 lbs l bought it back in 1995 along with a ARC LS15 tube pre amp They are still going strong after all these years!The VAC came with Golden Dragon KT 88's I just recently replaced them with the Golden lions KT 88's as per VAC recommendations I've always loved this amp/pre amp combo and hopefully they will out last me
Any chance you could do some more tube preamp reviews, thanks either way.
I have the Cub7, it is a 3.5w single-ended integrate amp. It's driven a pair of Triangle Bro 3, it can get to 85db of volume.
Spot on..
Just few things may not be very clear for some.
Single Ended equals class A
Push Pull equals to class A/B
Class A in a transistor amp eliminates the distortion of a switching transistor from the positive to the negative path of signal on A/B class. Class A/B has min 2 transistor per channel.
Now tube amps are coloured and distorted and a class A or Single Ended implementations doesn’t make any sense to me.
A classic Dynaco topology with a P/P el34 and 35watt would be the ideal sweet spot for most.
From here the magic from an amp, especially a tube one, comes from the power supply and because of it the Dynaco was sounding that good.
That’s why todays japanese and italian tube amps tend to sound better than chinese ones. Long story short a good modern implementation of a Dynaco ST35 with 35 watts would be the ideal tube amp for most regardless of price. Just download schematics and DIY.
This is my opinion only made from having build 63 tube amps of any topology. I suggest el34 for mids or kt88 for tonal balance an power. (70watts).
From here and after 22 years building electronics I have learned one lesson which is: nothing can beat a good pure class A transistor amp. Nothing regardless of price spent.
I came to this conclusion with age.
The more distortions, even the good sounding ones coming from tubes, the more infos the brain have to process. This with age translates in fatigue in the long run especially for aged chaps. Now all of this is my experience and my own toughs and opinions.
Great video Thomas! Keep your stories/opinions/approach videos coming! Love tubes!
An update to my original post here concerning the R800i and R8.
I recently (about 3 months ago) bought the rather amazing Willsenton R800i (805 version). I also own the R8 which I've owned for over a year now.
First, throw the stock tubes in the bin! This applies to both amps.
Tubes that I recommend for the R800i:
Mullard M8162 military spec 12AT7 high output. Yes, you can use the 12AT7 in place of the 12AX7 in the R800i.
Sylvania 6SN7 GTA NOS straight plates (circa early 1960's). The Sophia Electric 6SN7 blue glass coke bottle tube is surprisingly good in this position as well - great bass, clean, clear and crisp top end and a really nice midrange.
Takatsuki TA-300B - magnificent sounding tube. Genuine NOS WE 300B are almost as good as are the very well made reissue WE 300B, but the Takatsuki is more to my personal taste. I've also tried the PSVane Acme Series 300B and the Takatsuki's blow the doors off the PSVane's even though the PSVane's are actually quite good - that is, until you hear the Takatsuki's!
PSVane Acme Series 805
Svetlana 5U4G NOS rectifier tube.
Tubes that I recommend for the R8:
MELZ 6SL7 (circa 1952 in my case)
Sylvania 6SN7 GTA NOS straight plates (circa early 1960's).
Mullard EL34 NOS (circa early 1960 - XF2 made at the Blackburn factory in Great Britain)
I am using the Sylvania 6SN7 NOS angled plate as the rectifier tube.
ALL tubes are as close to perfectly matched as possible, or otherwise within a 5% tolerance of each other. Likewise, dual triode tubes (12AX7, 12AT7, 6SN7) are also as perfectly balanced as possible. Bear in mind that the matching/balancing of tubes is just as important as the tube you decide to use.
Depending on your taste, either amp could be an endgame amp with the R800i sounding magnificent while the R8 with its push/pull design and lower output would suite something akin to the Klipsch Heresy or perhaps even the Klipsch Forte or Cornwall. Nice efficient open-baffles designs would likewise be an excellent choice, providing you can accommodate them in your listening space. The Klipsch's are high sensitivity speakers and the synergy between the R8 (in triode mode) is simply wonderful; especially with the Heresy's. Personally, I've only tried the R8 with the Klipsch Heresy IV, so my view in using the Forte's or Cornwall's is only an assumption. I drive a pair of the Q Acoustics Concept 500's with the R800i. Both systems with a high end front end (turntable and/or steaming platform) sound absolutely to die for. Ignore these amps initial price as the price has absolutely nothing to do with the performance that's possible from these two amps from Willsenton. The sound is all in the tubes that you use!
Nice, thanks for sharing your experience.
Thanks Thomas for all you do for us. One thing we could get your advice on - if bass definition is important, rather than bass punch, along with the airiness of high-end. What amps should we be looking at? Is this where we should look at single ended? We should also be looking at EL34? Speakers are 90db efficient, listen at 60-70db max. Bloated bass must be avoided at all cost.
Fantastic. Thank you. Clear, conscience, insightful. Much appreciated
dang, you do a great job explaining these. super glad to have found your channel!
I went for firstwatt mosfet amps because it sounded more correct than my old tube amp, but it was a bit dry. So I built the Korg Notube B1 preamp with flouredcent calculator tubes for more second harmonics.
nice review Thomas.Something folks should consider with push pull is how essential good tubes are in the phase inverter stage.a good tube such as GL 12au7 can make a difference.In many ways the phase inverters are the "heart "of a push pull circuit.
Planning to buy my first tube amp, after hearing the comments of the qaulity why not, but good video for firsttimers
Most people can't say they prefare single ended or push pull as they simply buy their tube amp for say a grand and will never be able to buy another to do a comparison , , I have an icon audio 20pp a starter tube amp , but not knowing what I was buying into ,as most people can't really get the opportunity to audition many amps , anyway I love the sound through my rp600m
Nice info. Will put on hold in purchasing the MC ma352. Waiting for more your review.
A colleague of mine, specialist in simulation software and electronics engineering says he can make any solid state amp sound like a tube amp. He simulated his listening room, including furniture, curtains, everything. I'm pretty sure he's right. He now uses 3 stereo class D amps with 8th order (4th order Butterworth + 4th order Chebyshev) filtering in his self designed dynamic speakers awaiting the moment he has spare time to finish his electrostatic speakers. Looking at the frequency and phase response of tube amps and how he's able to change it all, I'm pretty sure he's right.
That sounds interesting.
I like both SE and PP.. It all depends in the overall design and implementation.. For relatively higher powered SET, I like the GM70 more these days than the 845 or 211 types.. For micropower I like the 45, 46, or 50 directly heated triode.. Those are just samplings of output tube preferences for SET using directly heated triodes.
I have always been curious about Fluxion’s sound and quality since they are priced reasonably. He makes so many variations… would love to see you review his amps with popular tubes configurations.
I was in the process of buying Fluxions 845 preamp, but went BeePre2 300B instead
I recall Fluxion to be a single person that hand builds every single unit, one at a time. Impressive skills yet I don't know the sound quality of his amps.
Thanks for this Thomas, next year I will buy my first tube amp for my klipsh speakers. Im leaning towards a r8 el34 but you're upcoming studies may help me here. Either way I learnt a lot today about push/pull and single ended.
Fanboy alert! I love my R8. Among being able to choose between el34 and kt88, easy and relatively inexpensive tube rolling, and being able to choose between triode and ultralinear modes the R8 can be voiced so many different ways. It is endlessly fun and such a bargain.
@@downhillblur708 agreed, it’s top of my list. Thank you for taking the time to write your comment!
Awesome vid Thomas I have 2 amps one a Yaqin and Conrad Johnson one triode and Pentoide and your right its about taste so keep up your awesome vids bro cheers
Ok My favorite tubes with the
Doge 10 MK2-B (Kt88-Kt120-12ax7-12at7)
Well depends on the speaker pairing . With speakers that present more of a
'forward lively presentation' I prefer the
Psvane classic (Reds) for Pre/power
These tubes are in contrast not as aggressive as my other tubes the
Psvane are more layed back (Smooth-rounder) Great layering/depth and localization,(Soundstage)
Warm midrange . caveats The Psvane clarity suffers just a lil bit but still accurate .
Now with speakers that are not as forward or lively i prefer to use the full set of Golden Lions ,
The Golden lions are what i call a hot tube that has top end extension (lively) with very good clarity and detail retriaval , The Golden lions have very solid dynamic peaks And lots of AiRYness in my soundstage .
and low-end bass with Golden lions are also a lil stronger than the Psvane classic , Only caveat with Golden lions the upper treble can have a bite to it 100 hours of burn in helps alot but still has a bite to it or can be a lil aggressive . Midrange is clean with barley a nibble of warmth .
Now for my speakers that love power and that can be a lil on the dry side
I prefer the Tungsol Kt120s these tubes are dynamic ! With very good attack and strong low-end bass , The top end has what i call 'Sizzle' yes the top is a lil extended but not overly extended the midrange is fuller than both the Psvane/Golden lions but the Tungsol midrange is surprisingly clean Vicals have bring more emotion , caveats with Kt120s they like lots of voltage and their just a lil more powerful than kt88 yes low-end is stronger and dynamics/Attack are insane but i don't get the depth/layering/localization like i do with psvane and the Golden lions have better Airyness than the Tungsol . But again the Tungsol have better Low-end bass dynamics attack and i love the top end sizzle with my polk lsim 703s the tungsol Kt120 tamed the treble of the polk lsim 703 IMHO
the Polks Hercules heel .
My favorite tubes in order based on all of my speakers
1st Psvane classics kt88
And its a tie between the Tungsol kt120
And The Golden lions kt88 .
But this list really is actually irrelevant
And based again on my Personal Synergy and what speakers i am using so theirs no clear winner , I just have to many Speakers with a lively forward presentation . !! So heres my Book Thomas I almost Deleted because i am giving away my furure doge review that drops in September but the ? Is
will my 52 pound Yamaha AS-1100 👑
be dethroned or outclassed by the Doge ? And the 🏆 will be compared to my Vintage Monster 👑
The Sansui G8000 the 2nd biggest reciver built by Sansui that has incredable power that brings that warm lush richness to the table sort of speak
Lol just gave my whole expirerence away dang it !
This was very helpful. I have been looking at tube amps for over three years now and I just can't make myself pull the trigger.
You know Thomas, watching your videos, I got into tube preamp few months ago then ordered a tube amp from Cayin last week and they are still on the way, they came with EL34 and I have ordered some KT88 to play around with. With this video, its like now I have to get another single ended ones to hear out the PURE thing that you talking about.
Loved your tube amp breakdown Thomas! That Willsenton R800i at 48 watts per channel truly sounds special. I had no idea it had that amount of wattage. Unfortunately I can’t afford a $2400 amplifier. Keep the videos coming!
I love TUNG SOL 6550, the JJ KT88 Blue, the GOLD LION KT77 and NOS MULLARD EL 34
I've never owned a stereo tube amplifier but it looks very intriguing to incorporate one in to my system. The only point of reference I have on tube amplifiers outside of the few I've heard at my local stereo dealership is with guitar amplifiers and I can say that I wish I had bypassed solid-state amplifiers from the very beginning because tube amplifiers have the tone and ambience far more reminiscent of a concert hall than their solid state counterparts. So to make a long story short the same principle should apply to stereo tube amps as it does with guitar tube amps in comparison to their solid-state counterparts generally speaking. Thanks Thomas for your tips on this engaging topic.
Yeah, tubes vs ss is probably a bit like CD vs vinyl, both are good, just different.
I agree with about tube over solid state for guitar amps. Kind of funny that guitarist love tube amps for light break up to pure distortion. When we start using tube amps into a stereo system we want and need just the opposite. I have both tube and SS, however what works for me the best is a quality tube preamp with a class a/ab amp. I have also started experimenting with tube preamp with class d amps. Jury is still out on how that is going to work out !
Nice video! I have a Woo WA6 SE single ended headphone amp, and love it. The main sonic difference is with the rectifier tube, splurged for a WE422; tried pretty much all signal tubes, and differences are much more subtle, currently have a 13DE7 (I believe that's the type). I also have tubes in phono stage (EAT eglo petite) and in my new preamp (PrimaLuna EVO 300). Just got it a month a go, so still exploring. Again, rectifiers make more of a difference, and it has no power tubes, but much better soundstage and 3D imaging. Also love the PL300 for clarity and 3D presentation. I did not go for tube power amp, as output resistance/damping factor is typically very poor, e.g., on the PrimaLuna DF of 1-2! and that leads to sound coloration with (variable impedance) speakers (two resistor voltage splitter). So went solid state (have a PassLabs XA-25 in production). When it comes to tubes, I would not only focus on the power tubes, but also rectifier and signal tubes (12AU7, 12AX7, etc). Going separates gives you the best of both worlds: tube pre, SS power. For low power amps like headphone, one can use tubes in a "power"-amp. my 2c.
I have only tried 2 tubes on my Schiit audio Freya 2 (Tung Sol 6sn7 gtb, and General Electric 6sn7 gtb. I do not have a favorite. The Tung Sol has better detail, the General Electric have better holography.). I like the sound so far. My power amp is a hybrid. Tubes on input stage, solid state output. I am pretty happy with my setup, even though it is in too small a room.
Power content. Learned a few things today. Thanks for sharing!