Valve amplifiers

[GeorgeO]

All three came via the US, in my ( or my sons)checked in baggage. I bought two both barely used, both could be wired for 220V, so that was a key consideration. The third one was brand new, but on sale, since it was a 220V version of very little use in the US-they would have to replace the power supply to sell it there, so it came cheap to me. I sold off the Melody KT -88 last year since I was getting an EL 34 amp to replace it.

Prices were about 50% of list or less, since my sons were there to negotiate prices-in on case I did it by email. The key thing is to have someone local (in India)who has a thorough knowledge of valves, and who can trouble shoot-I have someone who fits that description here. Also keep spare valves handy.There are very good deals available on Audiogon, where I still look, but I dont think I will be in the mkt for any more buys very soon.

They are all very heavy and it is not so easy now to bring such stuff across, with the 50 lb limit on bags-used to be 70 lbs earlier.

George

hey george, could you tell us a bit more about these amps? where did you order them from? how much did they cost? how do they sound? what, if anything, would be the 'areas of concern' ?

 

[thevortex]

So, people, any thoughts on these options? I could really make use of your inputs now.

 

[thevortex]

hey vortex, your link is for a tube buffer. I've read about this and the reviews have been a bit mixed. Musical Fidelity used to have a tube buffer (the X10D or something like that) that they introduced in the late 90s(?) which Stereophile had originally raved about, but later John Atkinson's measurements revealed that the reason for it sounding so good was that it gave a 1dB gain,and a subsequent review was accordingly more circumspect.

Purely in theory I would imagine that replacing the pre section of your NAD C372 with a tube pre might be a better idea than putting a buffer in the chain because of the simpler signal path. The disadvantage of course is that the remote control of the volume would not be possible. But if, as per reputation NAD's pres are the weak point, this might be useful from that perspective as well.

That's a lot of mud from me i guess

Keep going with the mud - no problem. With all the wallowing around we might become hippopotamuses

By the way do you know how a tube pre is different from a tube buffer? If so, I would love to know.

 

[thevortex]

Folks - I am waiting for your suggestions on the options thrown up in this thread as far as a standalone valve amplifier is concerned, or a tube buffer or a tube amplifier. Appreciate your inputs.

 

[srikarkav]

Keep going with the mud - no problem. With all the wallowing around we might become hippopotamuses


vortex i love your sense of humour:yahoo:

cheers,
sri

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Vortex, as suggested by others the only way to find out is to listen to a valve system and see if it is your cup of tea.


You are welcome to visit and listen to the Lyrita system at my home.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[srikarkav]

Hi rajiv,

what speakers have you paired with the amp? I would love to hear a tube which i have never done. Are they lyritas too? They say tubes have a different signature from SS. But don't know if my ears good enough to pick the nuances.

cheers,
sri

 

[Asit]

Hi Vortex,

If you want to stick to the 30K budget, then one option is to go used, the other is to consider a tube pre and use only the power section of your Nad 372 amp (at least for the moment). The general wisdom is : the nad pres are not that good, and the power section is decent. Actually square_wave upgraded exactly this way from his Nad 352. First he bought a pre from Siva and used that with the power section of the 352 and then next year he got the Stratos power amp. According to square_wave, adding the pre alone provided a significant upgrade for him.

Now in your case Siva's preamp PM1 is way outside the budget. The Lyrita pre will fit nicely within your budget. You can even have it with a phono stage.

ROC uses a Lyrita pre with a phonostage. He has modded his pre though, changed the tubes, some caps and lowered the gain.

Just a suggestion, if you want to consider it.

Regards.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi Srikarkav,

I use Altec Lansing horn loaded loudspeakers with the Lyrita amp.I use the 45 triode tube in the Lyrita for all of 1.5 watts output .

The speakers are vintage Altecs.The woofer is an Altec 515B mounted in a version of the Onken/Jensen Ultraflex cabinet .The HF is the Altec 288-16G compression driver with a 650 hZ round Tactrix horn.

But don't know if my ears good enough to pick the nuances.

You will certainly hear the differences,but as to what suits you is a choice you have to make.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[gobble]

Now in your case Siva's preamp PM1 is way outside the budget. The Lyrita pre will fit nicely within your budget. You can even have it with a phono stage.

ROC uses a Lyrita pre with a phonostage. He has modded his pre though, changed the tubes, some caps and lowered the gain.

Exactly my upgrade path. My Lyrita Pre arrives mid october. Viren is adjusting the gain on it to suit my S.S. Later if I feel the NAD 325 power is still anemic, I will hunt for a suitable power amp next year.

Cheers

 

[Asit]

Exactly my upgrade path. My Lyrita Pre arrives mid october. Viren is adjusting the gain on it to suit my S.S. Later if I feel the NAD 325 power is still anemic, I will hunt for a suitable power amp next year.

Cheers

Boy! You are making some quiet progress there. You do not discuss much about your upgrades, do you? First, the speakers, now the pre, wondering what is next!

Regards.

PS: Any review on the single driver speaker being driven by the SS amp? Would be very appropriate for this thread. Also okay if you want to start a new thread on it. Pl. remember to give detailed specs on the speakers because Audire site when in operation does not give out much.

 

[psychotropic]

a tube buffer is essentially a line-level device (line level input and line level output) that just throws in a tube sound into the mix. It has no function other than to add the tube sound to it, which is why I am a bit distrustful of it.

a tube pre-amp actually replaces the pre-amp on your setup, it takes in the inputs, provides it with volume control and whatever else a pre-amp is supposed to do. This makes even more sense in light of what Asit said about square_wave's experience with his NAD.

This particular Yaqin pre has got very good reviews on the net and costs 10k including shipping, no idea how that compares to the cost of Viren's. Plus it's also a MM phono-stage and apparently a good one at that, so if you plan to get a turntable it might be useful. If it works like it is supposed to and like web reviews suggest, it sounds like excellent value.

Keep going with the mud - no problem. With all the wallowing around we might become hippopotamuses

By the way do you know how a tube pre is different from a tube buffer? If so, I would love to know.

 

[arj]

A tube Buffer is in reality more of an impedence matching device between the source and amplification. It "Buffers" a difficult amplifier load by presenting an easy load to the source while taking the amplifier load on itself.

Mot entry level CD players do not have a good output stage ie will not be able to keep a consistant voltage output throughout the frequency spectrum..hence the Bass becoming a bit soft etc (depending on the amp). a tube buffer can help solve that.

the marantz 6000 was particlulary effective with it.

I still have the old X10D with its original Power supply lying somewhere. was very good when i used to connect my iPOD directly to my int amp. but for the price you would pay for one new+ the ICs you need for it, you could do better by selling of your old CDP and buying a better one

BTW is is very effective with the regular DVDPs used for audio purposes.

 

[psychotropic]

hey arj, but from what i've read about these buffers, people use them both between source and pre and between pre and power. Can you tell me a little more about how the buffer presents an easy load to the source?

I also remember reading that the X10D adds a tiny bit of gain. could this be the reason for some of the perceived improvements?

A tube Buffer is in reality more of an impedence matching device between the source and amplification. It "Buffers" a difficult amplifier load by presenting an easy load to the source while taking the amplifier load on itself.

Mot entry level CD players do not have a good output stage ie will not be able to keep a consistant voltage output throughout the frequency spectrum..hence the Bass becoming a bit soft etc (depending on the amp). a tube buffer can help solve that.

the marantz 6000 was particlulary effective with it.

I still have the old X10D with its original Power supply lying somewhere. was very good when i used to connect my iPOD directly to my int amp. but for the price you would pay for one new+ the ICs you need for it, you could do better by selling of your old CDP and buying a better one

BTW is is very effective with the regular DVDPs used for audio purposes.

 

[gobble]

Boy! You are making some quiet progress there. You do not discuss much about your upgrades, do you? First, the speakers, now the pre, wondering what is next!

Regards.

PS: Any review on the single driver speaker being driven by the SS amp? Would be very appropriate for this thread. Also okay if you want to start a new thread on it. Pl. remember to give detailed specs on the speakers because Audire site when in operation does not give out much.

Will post some pics of the new speaker soon and hopefully a review that will be helpful.

Thanks for being patient folks ..

Regards

 

[arj]

hey arj, but from what i've read about these buffers, people use them both between source and pre and between pre and power. Can you tell me a little more about how the buffer presents an easy load to the source?

I also remember reading that the X10D adds a tiny bit of gain. could this be the reason for some of the perceived improvements?

I am not really a techie expert so cannot expain hpw exactly it works but it might help to think of it as something like an impedance transformer.

I would not expect it to be too good beween a per and power...as if it does one better ditch the Int amp and it is not good enough to be placed between decent seprates.

So if youa re using a wimpy source and do not really want to upgrade (eg entry level DVDP) and dont want to upgrade then it is a decent option

 

[thevortex]

Hi,

Vortex, as suggested by others the only way to find out is to listen to a valve system and see if it is your cup of tea.


You are welcome to visit and listen to the Lyrita system at my home.

Regards
Rajiv

Thanks Rajiv for the offer. It comes at the right time. I will call you up sometime this week and fix up a convenient time.

 

[thevortex]

Hi Vortex,

If you want to stick to the 30K budget, then one option is to go used, the other is to consider a tube pre and use only the power section of your Nad 372 amp (at least for the moment). The general wisdom is : the nad pres are not that good, and the power section is decent. Actually square_wave upgraded exactly this way from his Nad 352. First he bought a pre from Siva and used that with the power section of the 352 and then next year he got the Stratos power amp. According to square_wave, adding the pre alone provided a significant upgrade for him.

Now in your case Siva's preamp PM1 is way outside the budget. The Lyrita pre will fit nicely within your budget. You can even have it with a phono stage.

ROC uses a Lyrita pre with a phonostage. He has modded his pre though, changed the tubes, some caps and lowered the gain.

Just a suggestion, if you want to consider it.

Regards.

Yes, Asit, as I keep reading up on this subject, I feel that maybe the tube pre's may be the way to go.

I have not felt that my NAD C372's preamplifier section was weak. Based on my experience with my Marantz the only complaint that I have is about the rendering of wind instruments such as Trombone, trumpet, saxophone etc. The Marantz had the ultimate bit of ripeness, bloom and bite. The NAD softens them all up.

Other than that I have no complaints. I will probably go listen to Rajiv's setup as the next step and then come back here to this thread to continue this thought....

 

[Rajiv]

Hi Vortex,

You need to clear your inbox.Unable to send you a PM.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[thevortex]

Folks I have posted my thoughts and impressions on our listening experience in the Reviews section. Here is the link:

http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/5814-lyrita-tube-amplifier.html

What has been determined is that I like the Valve sound. The next step is to figure out something that can integrate well with my existing solution. I am brimming over with a lot of questions. But I am going to read up some more on valves before I can make sense with my questions. In the meanwhile, please do feel free to pop in your suggestions or thoughts.