Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Building a Bottlehead?

JohnK - on the other hand, I believe most of this tube kit mystique is the "I did it myself" factor of the actual building of the piece.

Having said that, I will soon have a tube amp in my house. I've inherited a radio/gramophone from my grandparents' estate and it does have that fat, round tube sound... from 1938.

I'll post my impressions when I get it. I haven't actually seen it since I was about 8.

Bren R.

j0shbd, I'm in the process of building a Bottlehead preamp. Not done, so can't comment on the sound. Transcendent Sound might be another DIY option for you. I ordered a book from them, "Audio Reality," and it's straightforward no-nonsense approach to audio. SET amp is under 800 unassembled. Just a thought.

Hmmmmm....... I hope I didn't start a holy of tube versus solid state. And while a don't have much experiencee with tube amplication for home audio, I know that I like the sound of a Strat through a Fender Twin Reverb infinitely better than any solid state amp. And while applying guitar amplication to home audio may not be fair, I'm more than willing to give it a try.

With regards to tube amps, there are three terms I could use a little clarification on:
1. Push/Pull
2. Set
3. Single Ended Triode

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In Response to, I St. PatGuy, I was actually on the Transcendent site last night and their amps definitely look nice. But they seem a little more pricey and there website didn't leave me breathless. But, that isn't to say that there amps aren't great, I'll have to do a little more online research....
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Thanks,

-Josh

I think a SET and a Single End Triode are the same thing...
Can't help you on the push/pull thing.

I have a foreplay pre amp that I run with a ss power amp. which has a very nice hybrid sound.. I also have a Cayin TA-30 Tube Amp that is rated at 35 watts per channel and this is also a very sweet amp. It is manufactured by the same company as the primaluna the major difference between the 2 is that you have to adjust the bias on the Cayin which is a simple procedure.

Roughly speaking, SET/Single Ended Triode is class A, Push Pull is class B (probably AB).

With class A you have a single output device which is "turned on half way" at idle. With class B you have two output devices, one pulling up from zero and one pulling down from zero. This allows both devices to be turned off at idle.

Class B generates much less waste heat and can produce more power but you can get little "glitches" around zero, usually called "crossover notch". Class A is terribly inefficient but is totally immune to crossover notch so can in theory give you the best sound.

Class AB is like class B but the output stages are turned on "just a bit" at idle to reduce or eliminate the crossover notch.

SET = low power, hot, expensive, theoretically best sound

Push Pull = like the amps you're used to, more power, more efficient, potentially a bit of IM distortion at low levels but there are ways to design around it

SET has a higher "cool" factor despite the waste heat

j0sh, you will notice here that the ideologues come out of the brush at first mention of tubes. Always.

You may also notice that you asked "how much difference...?" not "which is better, solid state or tubes?". And, you got the ideologue's answer to the latter question, not your question. I say ideologue because of this very advocation.

My suggestion however, is similar but for different and more secure reasons. If you are unsure or don't want to take the full plunge, try just starting with a tube preamp.

i would love to hook up my 60's to a tube amp. i actually want to hear what all the 'hoopla' is about.

i grew up listening to music on my dads old head unit that he got in vietnam, and it was a tube. and, i most definitely prefer the sound from a tube guitar head over a SS. unfortunatly, i am in no position at this time to even contemplate a tube amp.. but, there is always the future, and i will always be curious.

bigjohn

After reading the replies, here is the final tally:

Integrated Tube Amp: 4
Tube Preamp/Solid State Amp: 3
Solid State Preamp/Tube amp: 1
Sold State Only: 1

I guess this just goes to show how subjective the listening experience can be. However, after reading the responses (Thank you all, by the way), I think I'm going to go 100% tube. Then, I can go back to SS if I feel either power or precision is lacking.

The only way to see if I can hear the "tube difference" is by buying or auditioning in the area. Anyone with a tube amp from Boston.............

if anyone is looking to do a little more reading on different amp classes, this link is pretty helpful (and thorough). This Prosound website has descriptions that are a little less in-depth.