Tube Amplifers and Electronic Music

Personally I think that a good tube amp can sound great on electronic music. The only times that I have issues with tubes and electronic music is that very few are capable of reproducing that "count the cycles" kind of bass which a good SS amp can do. Other than that, a good tube amp need not be dark or warm, but can still be sweet and liquid and yet still reasonably detailed on top.

But, the odds are that the OP is not going to love very many vintage amps because many can be mushy and dull.

 

Ken was the person that showed it all to me! He was very helpful! I even said an issue that the tuentable might have, and he said for me to bring it in to see if it is damaged or if there is a mistake, and it wasn't even bought at that store and for free!

Funny enough i heard someone there talking on the phone with someone about a Sony 4k projector

I love this place so far and will purchase my stuff there unless the Rogue wowes me.

 

See, one is making progress!

the ma 252 is a cute little hybrid. I have seen one, but did not listen.

You could make worse 1st choices by far....either mc or rogue is not a bad thing.

 

Ken is the man. Also, he KNOWS HIS STUFF when it comes turntables, especially set up and repair.

Glad you are having fun with the process, as that is the best part

 

Im coming from a Yamaha Rx-496 with the Klipsch r26f and now going to the McIntosh MA252 and either the Klipsch Fortes or the Focal Aria 926 is probably an insane jump in quality!

I really enjoy this shop, since I am moving there real soon into an apartment, I will have to gaze at the too expensive gear constantly!

 

This thread got me to explore new music by Burial. I just got the album Untrue. The ambient type sounds that Burial is using can get enhanced with tubes. This is electronic music that will benefit from being played over good tube gear. Tubes can enhance that spatial type of sound that some electronic music styles can have. With this type of electronic music the use of tubes is a good thing. Tubes may not be the best thing for hard hitting bass beat heavy dance style electronic, but for this style of electronic the tubes are a very good thing. A very good thing. I encourage your quest for adding tube a tube amp or pre-amp to your gear for electronic.

I listen on headphones. I'm using a couple of different hybrid headphone amps. Good hybrid amps are still able to deliver a good tube listening experience. The Burial album is letting me hear the tubes do their thing.

 

Untrue is a masterpiece. The eerie environs mixed with off time beats and bottomless bass create something wholly new.

My fave track is Fostercare which is on a Hyperdub comp.

I’m contemplating a SS power amp and tube pre although I don’t think my budget will do me any favors...

 

The difficulty here with tubes is that the style of tube sound that enhances the ambient environmental sounds is the the style of tube sound that tends to the holographic side of tube sound. Not all tube amps or pre-amps do that holographic style of sound. Finding an amp or pre-amp that does that holographic sound, even a little, can get selective. Need to choose your tube gear carefully with that holographic sound in mind in order to get it. And the tube gear that is able to do that holographic style of tube sound tends to be more expensive. I've specifically chosen to have tube gear that is able to do some of that holographic style of sound. It's a style of tube sound that you need to seek out if you want it. If you just buy a tube amp or pre-amp at random you most likely won't get that style of tube sound. I've heard more headphone tube amps that don't do it than that do it.

Finding tube gear that can do this relies on having reliable reviews to help guide you, and/or a good dealer who can help guide and advise you, along with auditioning and being able to identify that holographic quality when you hear it.

My experience with tubes is almost all with headphone amps. Amps that would be more comparable to pre-amps and flea-watt speaker amps. I don't have any practical experience with tube amps that can do higher wattage for practical speakers. Hopefully my experiences can translate over to speaker listeners.

 

A tube pre and ss power is the ticket.

 

That does work pretty well overall, except for in the bass, which may or may not be tight enough for the OP's taste.

 

Well I just ordered Burial's Untrue. That's what I got from this thread.

 

I listened to Gorillaz: Plastic Beach on vinyl and on Tidal, and with my solid state pre and my tube amp, it shook the damn house.

Just a FWIW experience I thought I’d share

 

The bass is why you have a ss power amp. Tube bass is slow and blooming.

 

I'm sure it's great but the bass would be tighter and faster more defined with ss. I've already experienced all this.

 

Not so. A tube preamp does not sound the same as a SS preamp in the bass. The bass is (usually) less defined, just like it is with a tube power amp.

I say this as a tube die-hard who personally inserted a tube preamp into a friend's system a number of years ago. My friend is a huge fan of electronic music. He loved everything it did, except for in the bass. And with his choice in music, what simply sounded like warmth on my system, sounded mushy on the bottom on his.

That said, I personally thought that it sounded good. But he didn't like the fact that he no longer had "count the cycles" sort of definition on his bottom end. And yes he was using a SS power-amp the entire time.

 

Hi,

You are discounting the impact of tubes to overall sound signature. I have rolled 5 or 6 different ones on my pre-amp (hooked to ss power amp) , and each of them produced different results in the bass region.

Regards

 

One solution might be a preamp that can switch between tubes and solid state.

Has anyone tried the Schiit Freya preamp? It allows you to switch between solid state and tubes. Use it in solid state mode when you want the bass control that solid state preamps do. Use it in tube mode when you want the tube thing. Might be the type of preamp that would be perfect for the OP.

I have not heard the Freya preamp yet. I doubt it does the full-on holographic tube thing (that sort of sound is more expensive). But reviews do say it does the tube softening and pillowing thing along with bringing out more depth and layering.

 

Hehe, another tube vs ss thread?

It is all about synergy of the system, waaay too many variables, that said, can you afford both kinds of amps and preamps? Eat ramen noodles and cheap soup for a year, play with the gear and don't forget the very expensive cables and wires....

I'm a lover of the good ol' days electronic/house/rave's of the 1980's and 1990's...when the record labels gave some freedom on not compressing the crap outta the sound.

Or you can do what I do, get the best monster ss amp and borrow a friends nice tube job every now and then. I also depends on what your speakers require for power. My Summit's will do amazing things with a Chinese el-84 x4 amp, very interesting/lovely things, if there are vocals, they are sweetness. Not much bass slam though! Summit's are not known for bass slam anyway, I just deal with it, and when someone comes over and says "where is the bass"?

I hit them with something from the far back 45rmp remixes I own and they get the ahhhh there it is! 2 200watt D amps internally powered into each 10' woofer/ one forward/ one down. HeeHee! Must be the analog Thorens/SME/Shure V15 IV HE??

 

I don't see our disagreement here. My quote said: "The bass is (usually) less defined" out of a tube preamp. And I stand by the fact tubes do indeed "usually" not have as tight of bass as do sand amps. Remember, usually does not mean always. There are of course exceptions because different preamps have differing sonic signatures. But I'd wager that many (most?) of these "tube" preamps with genuinely tight bass below 50 Hz are actually hybrid designs.

FWIW: Just to be clear: I am of the opinion that a really good tube preamp combined with a good SS amp can sound absolutely glorious on electronic music from the midbass on up. But the very bottom end will usually not be quite as well defined.

And the only people who I expect would be disappointed with such a combination are the true bass freaks.

 

Yes.

Based on my limited experience in combining tube pre with ss power I came to a conclusion that pre amp/ tubes make more difference to the bass and overall sound signature in general.

Edit.

So, having the ss power amps is not a guarantee of improved bass in the combo.
Regards.