A Sad Admission —— I Miss Tubes

[MikeT.]

I may have found my balance, operative word is “may”.

 

[pdreher]

I always preferred tube amps in my 10 years with Harbeth speakers (SHL-5, 40.1 and 40.2)... but I only tried a handful of solid state amps with them.

 

[JohnVF]

I’ve tended to like solid state on my SHL-5s but I’ve also enjoyed various tube amps on them. The factors that contributed to me choosing or not choosing an amp for them were more based on specifics of the amp more than generalities like tube or solid state (I’ve liked and disliked examples from each camp).

 

[Fran604g]

Solid state can have my horns get too bright. While tubes take the high end edge off and provide a clean top end without being edgy.

This is my experience with my 604-8Gs. Exactly. I've dialed things in nicely running tube gear.

 

[airdronian]

I bought these used and have only had to adjust the bias a couple times in the last 15 years. Note these are the MK II version. The layout is very different from the first version.

I'll add my 2 cents here for what it's worth. Solid state or tubes, it really is up to the listener and their system. For me it's about synergy. Your source, your amp(s), and your speakers. They all affect what your system sounds like. For me, Harbeths have a lush midrange, so solid state amps work well to keep the high end on balance. Tubes on the other hand, can have them lacking the high end sizzle. Just the opposite for my horns speakers. Solid state can have my horns get too bright. While tubes take the high end edge off and provide a clean top end without being edgy.

I still had a suitable PP amp when I got my Harbeth C7's. While there was no lack of power it seemed to soften the extremes, which for my preferences the speakers didn't benefit from. So I've stayed with an SS amp since then. I think my experience was quite similar to yours.

 

[Richard Austen]

I took possession (for review) an Audio Note P3 Tonmeister power amp (the basic version). 300b power amp @ 8 watts - it is the power amp version of the Meishu Tonmeister recently reviewed by Ken Micallef of Stereophile. I also received the AN CD 2.1x/II CD player (non-oversampling/no jitter reduction/no error correction). I reviewed this player around 12-13 years ago. So far so great.

The Meishu and P3 are just soooo big and nothing to look at as they have no exposed tubes. It's just a big box - not even worth adding a photo - lol.

 

[Wardsweb]

The Meishu and P3 are just soooo big and nothing to look at as they have no exposed tubes. It's just a big box - not even worth adding a photo - lol.

You mean like this?

 

[JohnVF]

You mean like this?

View attachment 67619

That’s actually pretty. I like the simplicity.

 

[Spinner45]

It's just a big box

And heavy too.
80 lbs??? Perhaps more.

I have a late 90s Meishu that I bought used 20 years ago.
Went chernobyl on me shortly afterwards.
It's in storage and unlikely to be moved any time soon.....at least not by me alone.

After that, I went back to some Bottlehead amps for a short while, but found my transmission lines liked a pair of 6L6 PPs better. I used them for about 10 years.

These days I'm quite happy with a modded Eastern Electric Minimax preamp pushing DIY Class D amps.
Keeping the weight down is good for an arthritic old man.
Keeping it simple is good too.

I often think about going back to tube amps, but sound-wise I'm addicted to the dynamics and tight bass Class D provides.
And of course, I still get to play with preamp tubes.
I'm sure some of you remember the Minimax.
It likes nice tubes........

 

[JohnVF]

And heavy too.
80 lbs??? Perhaps more.

I have a late 90s Meishu that I bought used 20 years ago.
Went chernobyl on me shortly afterwards.
It's in storage and unlikely to be moved any time soon.....at least not by me alone.

After that, I went back to some Bottlehead amps for a short while, but found my transmission lines liked a pair of 6L6 PPs better. I used them for about 10 years.

These days I'm quite happy with a modded Eastern Electric Minimax preamp pushing DIY Class D amps.
Keeping the weight down is good for an arthritic old man.
Keeping it simple is good too.

I often think about going back to tube amps, but sound-wise I'm addicted to the dynamics and tight bass Class D provides.
And of course, I still get to play with preamp tubes.
I'm sure some of you remember the Minimax.
It likes nice tubes........

I’ve not heard a Minimax but I did listen at length to one of their integrateds, possibly the M520. That was a sweet sounding use of tubes. I’ve auditioned a lot of gear but it says something that I remember that amp from well over a decade ago.

 

[Richard Austen]

And heavy too.
80 lbs??? Perhaps more.

I have a late 90s Meishu that I bought used 20 years ago.
Went chernobyl on me shortly afterwards.
It's in storage and unlikely to be moved any time soon.....at least not by me alone.

After that, I went back to some Bottlehead amps for a short while, but found my transmission lines liked a pair of 6L6 PPs better. I used them for about 10 years.

These days I'm quite happy with a modded Eastern Electric Minimax preamp pushing DIY Class D amps.
Keeping the weight down is good for an arthritic old man.
Keeping it simple is good too.

I often think about going back to tube amps, but sound-wise I'm addicted to the dynamics and tight bass Class D provides.
And of course, I still get to play with preamp tubes.
I'm sure some of you remember the Minimax.
It likes nice tubes........

The Meishu was never a fan of - or the SORO - I prefer the less expensive and lighter weight OTO (EL84 SEP). I was never a fan of the 300B from anyone really.

The Tonmeister is a different animal, however, using the Ongaku's patented Galahad power supply and is a 300B with actual bass and dynamics. I have 250 watts (430watt into 4ohm) class D monoblocks as well. Just in case I was to review low-efficiency speakers - but I have struggled to find such speakers I like enough to want to own.

 

[adaug]

I also received the AN CD 2.1x/II CD player (non-oversampling/no jitter reduction/no error correction). I reviewed this player around 12-13 years ago. So far so great.

@richardausten can you say more about the AN CD2.1? the concept of non-OS, no jitter red. and no error correction is interesting to a recent R2R dac convert. like, if less is more, is even less even more?

 

[Richard Austen]

@richardausten can you say more about the AN CD2.1? the concept of non-OS, no jitter red. and no error correction is interesting to a recent R2R dac convert. like, if less is more, is even less even more?

I reviewed the CD 2.1 in 2010 so it's like getting a visit from an old friend - my system is better than it was then and to be blunt I am somewhat stunned by how good the results are so far. Audio Note UK CD-2.1x MkII CD Player Review

Although for the price I should be.

Audio Note was the first at the NOS CD Player/DAC game in the high end - the original Sony and Philips machines were but sounded pretty terrible.

Less is more is sort of AN's philosophy and you can see it in all their components - they want the CD played once converted once and sent to the preamp - no going back in time to try and fix the signal. SET amplifiers have no feedback which again is sending the signal back through the circuits to correct. Their speakers try not to store energy but release it immediately, turntables are not heavy mass which stores vibration.

To me it's all blah blah - I like the sound better - it seems more immediate and open and "right" than most (well all) stuff that I audition. And that's why it's a bit of a cult - and it's also why many other companies came out with NOS DACS - a lot of companies have put out products that are NOS R2R and then others who claim their stuff is NOS but isn't really.