How to put together a Tube Hi-Fi System: 10 tips for sonic Nirvana!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2024
- Tube gear is often considered obsolete but those of you brave enough to spend some time and money to find quality vintage as well as modern equipment, will achieve an overwhelming sonic reward. In this video we will explore ten tips on what to look out for and do to start or fine tune a hi-fi tube system and reach audio Nirvana!
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Hi Guido, I would be very keen for you to do a video on tube testing and tester options at different price points. I’ll keep an eye out for a future episode from you on this topic!! Ciao Gino.
Fantastic video, Guido! Huge fan of tubes here, especially when in the preamp. But….I do own some tube amps and have tried many others, 300B, 2A3, EL34, KT88, etc, My two main pairs of speakers (Pendragons and Fortes) are both around 95dB in sensitivity. The 2A3 with no more than 3.5wpc had zero problem driving both pairs with ease. IMHO, 100dB+, while it would be great, few people manufacture them, plus 100dB seems a bit excessive. They are out there though.
100% agree regarding point to point. Glad you brought up how hugely important transformers are. A PSU is the heart of an amplifier. Synergy is extremely important as well. Just because it looks good on paper, doesn’t mean it’ll sound good. My tube tester is also made by Hickok. Such a useful tool if into tube gear.
Thanks, Guido. Another excellent video.
Thanks again Guido. My amplifier journey went from class AB to class A ,(thought I found it there). Then to valves (I’m English), The journey took 40 years and quite a lot of components, but for a long while now it’s been valves with higher efficiency speakers.(but imho I think 90db is enough to open up the door to common valve amplification)
All the best to you , Gary Oldman ❤
Love the videos, keep em coming. Always fun to see a video from you. Ciao from Zurich
Grande Guido!
Il mondo delle valvole è affascinante ma richiede tanta attenzione.
Un abbraccio da un fiorentino in Brasile.
Maremma buhaiola!
Love my Audio Note Cobra with my Klipsch Heresy IVs. Just beginning the tube rolling journey and it’s a lot of fun. Found a quad of Mullard 6AU6’s that I substituted for the stock GE JANs that came with the unit. Definitely provides a gain in definition and separation without losing the warmth overall. Next is a set of Ericsson NOS 5670’s. I’ve found the EH EL34’s that came with the unit quite satisfactory. Tried new Millard’s and they were too bright and lacked bass. Bottom line going to tube amplification with these speakers was a VAST improvement in sound quality and musicality.
Love SET. MusicShare X9 300B 8W with CW IV 102 dB + REL HT 1508 rock my house. The ARC LS2B+Parasound A21 gave more dynamic and imaging but SET makes everything more realistic with singer and instrument players in my house. Source Blue Node 2i and Pontus II.
Thanks for this clearly labelled opinion video. Re high sensitivity speakers, the presumes that power amp is necessary for tube experience. I'd argue that you can get good tube sound with tubes in pre-amps/PS (PrimaLuna EVO300 pre/EAT eglow petite PS), but go with solid state class A SS power amp (Pass XA25). Otherwise, you limit yourself in terms of speaker choices. Re new gear and new vs NOS tube, I have the opposite experience with Woo WA6 SE. New stock rectifier tube was VASTLY improved upon with old WE 422 (and any other NOS tube). Same experience with Vincent PHO701: stock OK, Brimar NOS much better. my 2c.
Cathode bias is a tip for myself, I do not mis those fixed biasing days. I also like a good passive pre (relay type) feeding the driver and output of a tube amp.
I highly suggest using a tube or FET preamp with the new Galion TS A-75 solid state amplifier. Never heard anything like it for $1500 not even $6,000 to $8,000 amps in most respects. There are a couple of inexpensive amplifiers on the market right now that are mind blowing! I just replaced my beloved Audio Research 100 watt amplifier with this Galion and I couldn’t believe my ears.
Yes, the stuff Thomas is putting out is very intriguing!
Very good Quido. You must make a video with the sound of specific types of tubes. For example in push pull configuration the best tubes are ΕL34. Of course EL84 are great tubes with less dynamics. Thanks for the video.
I've been a tube fan for nearly four decades but at times I think people these days have elevated tube amps into something that is unreal. I tire of hearing things like "warm", "airy" and "holographic" when describing their performance. Really?! When I got into tubes in the 1980s you could pick up amps like Fishers, Dynacos, Heathkits and Scotts every day of the week for less than a hundred bucks. Which made them a bargain and very appealing to the college student's budget. And, at that time, tube amplification seemed to me to be much more dynamic and three dimensional than solid state amplification had been able to achieve. But that was four decades ago and there are solid state amps that do damn good work these days. And while I am a fan of tube amps and will likely remain so for the rest of my days, let's be careful to not cover them in too much maple syrup and honey. It's just another form of sound amplification that you either like (and tolerate their comparative demands on maintenance) or you do not. Either way is fine but enough with the overwhelming gooey talk on their so-called warm and airy characteristics. You can leave that kind of talk to the HVAC guys.
I have an EL34 push pull amplifier. 27 watts per channel. Over the years I learnt that with cd playback the output of the cd player was to way high for the sensitivity leaving no headroom. I added a volume to the power amp and have a vol pot on the pre amp. This way i can control the attenuation via the vol pot on the pre amp. Sorbathane under the feet make a big difference reducing microphonics generated in the valves. The engineer who built my amplifier for the past 12 years that i have known him , has consistently said valves hate silver either in cables or even solder. Sound will become overly harsh with silver in the system.
Great video! I only disagree with the speaker part. Minimum 100db gets you horn loaded ones only. Between 92db and 100db you can find amazing sounding speakers that works fantastic with low watt SETs.
Hi Guido, excellent video as usual! What do you think about Shindo Aurigies preamp and Shindo Montille amp? I use B&W 802D2 speakers, and they have a sensitivity of 90db … I’m currently using Luxman M-900u amps in vertical amplification, with a Conrad Johnson ET-5 preamp, and love this setup!
Great video!
You realize that you have just limited most of the speakers on the market by suggesting at least 100 dB sensitivity.
Here here! I run a 6W homemade EL34 liner tube amplifier pushing some speakers that are rated at 90.5dB sensitivity. I guess he is referring to very low power linear tubes. My homemade setup pushes my full range floor standing speakers just fine.
. Most of the speakers on the market $@%&, so that's really not an issue. It's also the ole-switceroo going on here too. All speakers used to be "high" efficiency but were never called that. It wasn't until Low efficiency sub-woofers, home theater stand-mounts etc. came along that they were later called high efficiency because the marketing departments did not want a "Low Efficiency" speaker moniker depressing sales.
Acid Jazz, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊
The impedance curve should be mentioned also. You don't want dips down to 2 to 4 ohms with an 8 ohm speaker for example. I'm running 92db speakers that match well with my 2A3 SET. Plenty of power if you are listening responsibly and the room isn't too big.
That is the ideal and if you want explore ALL tubes but can’t go too far from that especially with vinyl and tape. Digital has a stronger signal and will deliver with less efficient speakers.
Thank you
I just purchased my single ended six watt EL 34 amp ❤
Nice video, thank you!
I would suggest the Pure Audio Project Open Baffle speakers. You can use a 2 to 3 W amplifier to drive these babies to musical Nirvana.
More than once configured them and then dropped it because IMHO they are not efficient enough.
Actually, when it comes to speakers, you should be fine with 90db efficiency or above. There are not many speakers that can do 100db, save for some horn speakers like Klipsch. Commercial or PA speakers can reach that figure too, but don't expect much with soundstage and imaging with those speakers. You can even go lower on efficiency if you don't need to, or expect to listen at high volume levels.
In terms of SET vs Push pull, I definitely agree all around. SET is way better to go with. SET stands for Single Ended Triode and triodes generally sound better for audio amplification. There are some exceptions to the rule and cases where you might need to have a SEP (Single Ended Pentode) or SEU (Single Ended Ultralinear). The latter can be pretty good sounding and yield more power.
Reason for the SET's good sound is that it is, first off, class A, as pointed out, but many designs do not use negative feedback as it isn't needed in such a design. No feedback will preserve dynamics and also the harmonics. SET amplifiers have a very strong 2nd order harmonic and this is what makes the magic.
Push Pull is not a good choice for a first tube amplifier (as pointed out). It is a more complex design (for starters) and there are some disadvantages to push-pull if you want that all important tube sound. First push pull amplifiers cancel out even order harmonics, so there goes the musically inclined 2nd order harmonic right out the window. Next, push-pull amplifiers have global feedback. Depending on the amount of feedback determines how the amp sounds. Too much and the amp will sound very clinical and lack life. In fact, there are many push-pull tube amplifiers that don't sound much different from a solid state amplifier. These designs usually have lower distortion and more power than an SET amplifier, but it is at the expense of that tube sound. Also, tube rolling doesn't affect a push pull amp as it does on an SET.
I had learned the hard way and started out with Push Pull tube amplifiers, and I found them disappointing. The difficulty in fixing them is increased as well as they require many more parts. Not to say that push pull amps are all bad as there are cases where the more power is desirable and a tube push pull amplifier is definitely simpler in design than a solid state push pull amplifier. Also, push pull tube guitar amplifiers are a mainstay mainly because of the high power they produce and when driven into overload, tubes compress before clipping. You don't have this with transistor amplifiers as they go into hard clipping, and that sounds awful.
Hope that helps to add additional information about tube amplifiers.
Not gonna talk about reference level tube gear.
The most realistic solution for average music lovers is Tube preamp or tube buffer + decent discreete or chipamp. And tube rolling untill you find your favorite sound.
I have a cheap 5670 tube buffer. From the start I changed the Pot with a blue Alps one and the cheap stock caps with decent vfm Wima or branded film ones.
Stock current production Chinese tubes gave cold and heartless sound.
Military Russian NOS, almost the same.
NOS GE5670 a bit better.
Used GE5670 5***** = Warm bliss!!!
I know average tube gear is not gonna measure decent for SINAD or Dynamic Range. I don't care...
As long as noise/hum is controled enough.
It's only the warmth and sweet treble that most of us seek in tubes. That's what we love in music recordings from the 60s and 70s...
And that's why I never bother with remastered versions.
Valves work on high voltage and low current a transistor amp runs on very low voltage and high current this is why speaker sensitivity is crucial concerning loads and ohms and inductance from someone who’s built a few from scratch
The mystery of vacuum tubes
You don't need speakers with at least 100db efficiency unless you're only considering low power tube amps.
I use my class A tube amp with 89db speakers & it's perfect.
Sei un Grande ❤
I have Quicksilver Horn Monos (20 watts push pull) with KT88 tubes and Cornwall speakers. It's probably time to start rolling so I am thinking EL34s for a change and hopefully less expensive. I'm looking for recommendations for a great brand with great bass and a wide soundstage. I mostly listen to rock. Thanks!
I think 100db+ speakers are only really needed on flea amp's.90db speakers are fine with my 300b monobloc amp's 2*8 watts.
That is if you want to explore all tube types but optimal performance isn’t that far from 100db. Besides my ALTECs I have a pair of GoldenEar Triton Reference which are 92.3db and they need at least 15/20W to really shine.
I used to have a Luxman LV 104U. I thought it sounded great. Now I wonder what that would have sounded like with my HiFiMan Sundara headphones. I had crap headphones back then.
My Pass Labs preamps and headphone amp are always in standby mode and they’re not tube components. It does make a big difference in SQ.
As you probably know I had an XP22 and a XA30.8. Very nice sound but absolutely not comparable to my recently purchased Sony VFET and my tango transformers Japanese 2a3 amp.
OTL amplifiers… Thank you Julius Futterman.
Well, a Futterman combo, especially with my Quads 57, would definitely bring me to Nirvana
I only use SE Tube amps, point to point, so we are in 100% agreement on this
Low power and my amps vary from 3 watts max to 8 watts max of useful power
But where I disagree is that my experience is that you can use 90 db sensitivity speakers but I don’t listen loud and if you are 85 db listening or less you may be happy as I am
Crazy talk but I can get by with six watts and 88 db sensitivity speakers
So I absolutely disagree with only 100 plus sensitivity speakers
I have “Pro” DIY speakers that are 110 sensitivity but that just puts me at less than a single watt
The legendary first watt
I DIY all my speakers and favor full range speakers and blending in a couple subwoofers
Stay away from cheap Chinese tube amps as they have janky wiring but there are some nice Chinese tube amplifiers but you pay as much as you would for a build from Japan, North America, or Europe
As explained in other comments and stated in the video, that is if you want explore all tube types including the 1.5/2 watts. But can’t go too far from that for full expression. It clearly depends from the crossover, number of channels of your speakers and the output signal (digital is stronger than analog) as well as the amount of watts of the amp. As stated, I have also my Triton reference that are 92.3db and they need at least 15/20W. Also, I have a 45 tube amp (2Wpc) and they can’t drive my ALTEC 19s with an analog signal. Digital much better but still not optimal, and the ALTECs are 99/100db.
Single Ended is not always Triode, right?
rocking longines legend diver eh
My oldies is 304B by GE...is it gd?...Peace!
Can someone, anyone, help me find info on my Dynakit ST-70A amp, NOT ST-70. Need to get it biased properly and I aint takin no chances.
Nice tube..vitage sounds better ,psvane art, mids🕊 tweet🐚🎻🎺🕯.mist in the falls.
Beware high sensitivity speakers and tubes. Hissssss
th-cam.com/users/shorts7S3yxDP1dS0?si=RxLB12zQnPTAKVee
Does this work for you ?
Dynaco st-70 series 11 , Conrad Johnson pv-7,
Thorens td 125 , and a pair of klipschorns