Tube preamp with tube amp

Be careful; all that tube distortion in one spot could slow the earth's rotation.

https://www.vhaudio.com/plasmatron.html

They are just conditioning you to think that, if you heard it you would love it enough to contact them in which case they would strong you along for 3 months and ultimately you will get frustrated and not want to buy it anymore.

Also a thing

Past all tube office rig. Joule LA100 MkII, ultra rare Manley 75/75 and custom Jolida JD100. I never had all those issues like Tom says he did. The only problem I ever had was when I tried some blue JJ EL34's, one of them went nuclear. They sounded like dog poo anyway, so no loss.

I had an Acoustic Research LS26 in for a short time. It was difficult to tell the difference between it and the Joule. One had a tiny bit more bass, but I don't recall which.

A number of years back, I ran an Anthem Amp 1 and an Anthem Pre 2L. I really enjoyed the warmth. SDA effect on 1Cs and 2 3TLs was out of this world.

I would say the Amp was warm sounding enough that adding in the Anthem tube pre did not make as much of a noticeable difference.

Like @treitz3 said, issues with tube matching, blown resistors, etc made the Amp 1 a pain to own. I sometimes regret selling it but did so when I combined 2 channel and HT rigs i to 1 system.

For me just when listening (and an about an hour to warm up) because I don't have a whole lot of time these days for long listening sessions. Plus, my amp takes about an hour to start sounding like it should. I would never leave tube gear on unattended. Even if I was listening all weekend, I'd still power down anything with tubes. Others may feel differently.

H9

I leave my tube preamp, tube dac and tube power supply on 24/7 for many years now, it's no more dangerous than leaving solid state equipment on. The most spectacular failure I had was a solid state carver receiver that shot out a 2' flame from the top cover, I've never had tube equipment do that.

I asked a similar question a while back. Same feedback then ….

https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/199524/tube-equipment-power-button-best-practices/p1

Congrats!

I will start with: Like any audio system tube or solid state based, it's all about matching components for some synergy. I have run both in every configuration and each has its merits.

For this thread, I will talk about tube based systems.

I love horns and have 4 systems that use horn speakers. For me, tubes and horns have their own magic. Others have talked about issues but I have had very few over the last 30 years. I have had system that ran the same tubes for 10 years. Yes, there is the occasional tube going bad. I have been lucky to only have 3 or 4 tubes go in my many different systems over the years. (see list below). Depending on the amp, tubes and time, biasing is like rotating the tires on your car. It's maintenance, part of the package and the time varies.

For driving horns, the tubes take the high frequency edge off, that can sometimes occur. I still get the crispness and detail but without the "shout" and sibilance. Some people say that tubes have a warm sound. For me, that means it is not bright and with a smooth midrange. Bass really depends on the tube and the speaker. A 2A3 at 3.5 watts is not going to drive non-efficient speakers real loud. Put them on a high efficiency speaker and they will play louder than you want. Take for instance my JBL C50 Olympus with the Art Forma 2A3. There is plenty of bass and it just sounds right. Up the power and you can even drive electrostats. I've done this with Martin Logan Prodigy and a Jolida JD1000RC at 100wpc.

For my main system, The ASL 845 amp, at 22 wpc, drives the horns and 15" JBL woofer with ease and can really crank, when the need arises.


My Main system:
DIY 6H30 Class A Linestage
Antique Sound Labs AQ1006 845DT MKII

Other gear I own and have owned:
Preamps
Conrad Johnson 16LS
DIY Nelson Pass B1 Korg
DIY Bottlehead 3S4 battery powered
DIY Bottlehead 12AU7


Amps
Arte Forma Audio Feliciano 2A3
McIntosh MC240 6L6GC
Cary 572SE
DIY Loftin White 2A3
DIY Dynaco ST70 EL34
DIY Paramour 2A3
Dynaco Mark III KT88
Final Labs Music 3 EL34
Shanling SP80 EL34/6CA7
Jolida JD1000RC

A beaut.

Oh, that reminds me about the Cary tube amp I tried and tried and tried even more.....relentlessly to sound good in my system. It ended up going back.

Nothing wrong with the amp, it was the synergy within my rig. No matter what I did, I could never get it to sound even half way decent.

Tom

No, but it was the sexiest amplifier I had ever seen in my life.

Jerry (the guy who let me try it out) let me have it and I told him.....you are not getting this back!

He responded, "over my dead body!"

I told him, "Where do I start digging?"

Yeah, it just didn't work out. I have had either 2 or 3 pieces of Cary gear that have come and gone in my system(s) over the years....not one of them have worked.

Synergy. It's a hautch.

Tom