Hi Jeff! Thanks for the response.
I get what you are saying. I have an upgrade path planned for A dedicated Tubes setup. As of now i can't invest in both Speakers and Amp. So I am starting with the Amps.
Correct me if I am wrong pls, What I hv understood is that SET vs Push pull is like Pure Class A vs A/B. I prefer class A sound. I would prefer SET, DHT, 300b tubes with no feedback. But they all go single digits. How about 845 tubes ? They can give about 40 watts in SET configuration. Is it something about the 300b tubes which is so euphonic that audiophiles rave about? or is it the topology or the SET, DHT, NFB, bias, plate voltage, etc in amp design that's responsible for that tuby sound? Does 300b, 2A3, happen to be perfect match for that minimalist pure class A circuit design philosophy? Can 845 or similar tubes sound similar in similar topology?
I hv read about the topic but I value your opinion, and openions from ppl who are actually into these amps and tube rolling, much more than what can be found by Google... Thanks for your time!
Lifespill,
You ask OPEN and GOOD questions. Me personally, being a private party and not in the business of selling audio to make a living, I have the freedom to discuss amplifier design, and call it
exactly as I hear it.
I firmly believe tube amps , across the entire world today, exist in a vast sea, a morass of audio design mediocracy.
Furthermore, because of picayune financial consequences, there is a PATHETIC zero to low level of technical discussion, and circuit sharing among tube audio enthusiasts, world wide. WE tube design enthusiasts are not learning from each other !!!
The first big problem is that people do not even know what is MOST important, design-wise, to allow the tube amp to perform near the music reproduction and playback level that it is possible to obtain today.
In this thread, I have pointed out to you, for starters, that the very best sounding tubes will be smaller ones. Due to their size and physical construction, these low powered tubes have INHERENT advantages over the larger tubes. I suggest, mess with the best sounding tubes ....only.
Do it INTELLIGENTLY by choosing a about 100 dB or more efficient two way speaker !!!! THAT is how you intelligently start a " keeper for life " hi fi system. The efficient speaker choice allows you to use the world's most capable vacuum tube amps. Never any sort of 300B, or any 845 should be used !!! You use the wrong speaker dude !!.
What if I told you in 2019, myself and four other audiophiles heard a $41.00 / a tube E.H. KT-88 tetrode amp totally out-perform a ???? ( $500.00 a tube, guess N.L. A. ) Alexa VAIC AVVT 2A3 MESH PLATE pair of mono amps?????? ) Thats right, a commercial KT88......... in tetrode. Guess what......... amazingly, the music out-performance of the KT88 had ZERO virtually to do with the tube choice.....we were going against 2A3 VAIC DHT Meshies !!!!!!
I co designed and personally built that KT88 amp. I KNOW, from where the performance came from, to SMOKE that mesh plate VAIC 2A3 monoblock, with hand selected meshies !!!. Since then, a mentor friend and I APPLY said design twists, and it is a whole new game in audio. No one on HFV seems to ever ask about, or want to discuss HOW to build a State of the Art tube amp. There is only ONE best way, that I know of !!!
Tubes that people commonly think perform great, like a Type 45 over a 2A3, were only so concluded on MID-FI level half-baked audio systems. So a LOT of mis information gets passed around. You read it in a magazine, or on line, and follow it as gospel. Did you personally hear things on State-of-the-Art high efficiency systems ?? NO.
People criticize me when I correct the topic with the simple - to - hear audio TRUTH. A Type 45 tube amp can NEVER full range properly play the lower registers of a Steinway Concert Grand doing .....name it....Beethoven , etc. The next tube type I mention below can !!!!!
Audio and music enthusiasts in the USA and India need to take the EL84, convert the tube socket from 9 pin to 7 , and LISTEN to any $3.00 6AQ5 tube !!!! It will thoroughly outplay the EL84 tube, even on the mediocre amp being used to do the testing. More so, it plays great on an optimized amplifier design. The 6AQ5 has a first - cousin you can pop in, for better music.....the 6005. It is about as good sounding as anything I have ever heard !! What do you know about listening to a 6005 ?? Likely nothing.
This is a current design and build project, a DIY hobby of mine for many years. It uses a 6005 FINALS tube, which has a 10 Watt (correction - 12 Watt) plate dissipation, and was introduced in the 1950s. Used in car radios and TVs as the FINAL stage, in the USA and in Russia ( an equivalent )...
www.hifivision.com
There is an advantage to a well done SE amp over the best possible done P-P amp, if compared on the same 101> HIGH efficiency speaker system, well implemented. Don't try to kid yourself otherwise !!!
Like you, I listen to a wide range of music. I have personally collected since 1961 about 13,000 well chosen L.P.s. Am thinking - at my age, with no heirs, to sell them all off.
Jeff