Tube amplified below $500

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Diptom, May 18, 2015.

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  1. mdelrossi

    mdelrossi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn nyc
    OP,
    Filling out your profile with all of your associated equipment would help people help you. Also location incase any forum members would be open to you coming over and have a listen.

    Also describing what you don't like about your present setup and what you like about the Sophia amp would also help others guide you.

    That being said, I recently bought a Yaqin 100b amp from a seller in Canada on that auction site. Granted its %50 above your budget, they do make other less expensive amps.
    It blew away my previous Emotiva UPA-1 mono blocks in terms of sounding like the artists are in the room .
    I had listened to a Line Magnetic 216a amp that I thought was wonderful, held in high regard here and on other forums. It is also a Chinese made amp. So Chinese made is not necessarily synonymous with poor quality, you just have to be careful.

    You might want to look on craigslist, usaudiomart, audiogon or other forums buy and sell sections.

    best of luck.
    mdr
     
  2. krlpuretone

    krlpuretone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grantham, NH
    There's no such thing as a reputable tube amp below $500.

    Save your money a little longer and get something better.
     
  3. Diptom

    Diptom New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fremont, CA
    Thank you Larry, Rob and others. As a new-comer I will heed to what you said.

    Recently I heard Tchaikovsky and Friday Night in SF at a audio crack-house in West San Jose, where it sounded way better than it did at my place. I have a Technics 1200MK2, NAD D3020 Amp and Epos Epic 2 speakers. I understand with 2 channels i will miss the central channel affect, but the music was so pleasant. So much better than mine. Wonder if you guys can suggest a cheaper alternative to make them it sound better.
     
  4. Tyler Eaves

    Tyler Eaves Forum Resident

    Location:
    Greenville, NC
    If you can extend your budget up a few hundred dollars the Rega Brio-R is a superb solid-state amp, with a somewhat tube-like sound.

    Go for $850 brand new, can probably find one used for $600 or so.
     
    Diptom likes this.
  5. beowulf

    beowulf Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chula Vista, CA
    As far as tube amps ... you will probably want at least 2o watts for your speakers depending on room size and the volumes you like to listen to and to be honest I doubt that you are really going to find an excellent tube amp of 2o or more watts for below $500. I would wait until you can come up with $1200 bucks and start looking at the Rogue Audio Sphinx, with honorable mentions to Audio By Van Alstine and Croft Acoustics, but still a bit more money.

    The Decware Zuper Zen I mentioned earlier is below $1000 but not suitable for your speakers and would require more efficient speakers than what you have now which would also add to the expense.
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2015
  6. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    You may be nicely surprised to hear how wonderful a phantom center can sound. You really don’t need a speaker in between if you have 2 reasonable speakers and good placement.
     
  7. Daedalus

    Daedalus I haven't heard it all.....

    Let me express the contrarian view: Jolida makes several tube amps which can be had at or near your budget-FX 10 is one. A used 102b is another. There is also an inexpensive hybrid integrated. The tube amps mentioned use the EL84 output tube-very sweet and musical. I have owned a 102b for 10 years and have been well satisfied with it. It is not noisy and is has great sound with my Klipsch Lascala speakers. You will need an external phono stage if you have a turntable.
     
    Billy Budapest likes this.
  8. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    That's decent gear -- not sure what phono cart and phono pre you're using -- I mean, it's not world-class gear so if you're comparing it with the sound you heard from much better gear, well, unless you have a cost-no-object system, there's always better gear out there.

    But are you sure you have your system and your room properly optimally set up and treated? A lot of time people buy gear, and constantly chase the next gear upgrade without ever properly setting upt their speakers and listening position to minimize frequency response and soundstagne problems from standing wave peaks and nulls, comb filtering and time smear from early reflections, isolation from acoustic breakthrough w/ turntables, etc. I wouldn't start chasing equipment upgrades without making sure I've optimized listening set up, not only calculating the best speaker and listening positions with proper symmetry etc, but bass traping, first reflection damping, killing any flutter echo in the room, getting any junk out of the way betweeen speakers and listening position, etc. Proper stereo speaker setup playing back stereo recording made to capture a soundstage, will present a perfectly stable, sturdy center image without a center channel. But if you don't have the speaker set up symmetrically, with first reflections damped, speakers positioned well into the room (and not centered in the room), tweeters more or less at ear height, with the listening position at the proper distance from the speakers and well away from the wall behind the seating position, etc...you're not going to get great imaging or flat frequency response at the listening position.
     
    Diptom and rob303 like this.
  9. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    A lot of good advice given above. Chervokas is dead on correct: speaker placement and at least some modest use of room treatment go a LONG way to improving sound. I don't think you necessarily have to spend any moneyto get an improvement. First, look for some basic information on speaker placement. Unfortunately, the subject is somewhat complex and there is a lot of conflicting information. In the end, the "right" placement of speakers can only be determined by doing a LOT of trial and error changes in placement. The basic advice on placement is just a rough guide that helps to narrow down the placement options to experiment with.

    As Chervokas mentioned, symmetry is important to imaging, but, if that is not practical because of room usage and construction of the room, it is still possible to work around this by room placement (e.g., one can sit closer to the speakers to make the influence of the room itself less significant--look up "near-field" listening). The basic geometry is also important (e.g., spacing the speakers too far apart makes center imaging difficult to obtain). Good geometry also involves the amount of toe-in of the speaker toward the listening position (as a rough guide, more toe-in so that the speaker is directly pointing at the listener makes the center image more solid, but at the expense of "width" or expansiveness of the soundfield). How much the speak tilts back will also affect image placement and height and how bright the speakers sound). Avoiding large reflecting surfaces near the speaker and in the path of the sound is also helpful (for example a large coffee table right in front of the listenign chair is very bad--if it can't be avoided, at least put books and objects on the table to break up and diffuse the reflections). Side wall and back wall reflections can be diminished by simply using nice tapestries as wall hangings; ugly, dedicated treatments are often not really necessary.

    As to the various methodologies for determining placement, I like the ones based on experiments on placement rather than ones based on formula. Looke up the "Wilson" method or the "Sumiko" method--these involve a systematic approach to experimenting on placement. I have used the Sumiko method and have found some pretty startling results--moving one speaker as little as 1/2 inch can make a BIG difference. In any case, do plenty of experimenting--there is usually several locations that will work, but, it is often pretty hard to find them so keep trying.

    I am sort of in agreement with Daedalus about Jolida amps and the EL84 tube in particular. That is a nice sounding tube and decent cheap amps are made with that tube. My main caveat is that you should find someone to help with any purchase of used gear--perhaps you can buy something from a dealer who can also offer support (a guarantee, or tube testing service, etc). Another possibility is to buy a cheap kit amp like the EL84 amp offered by Bottlehead. Even a complete amateur can build a simple kit like this if he is careful. One additional word of caution about the Bottlehead kit--it is a very low output amp (4 watts per channel) so it is much more limited in speaker compatibility than the Jolida amp.
     
  10. SteevG

    SteevG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, Illinois
  11. zeppage2

    zeppage2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oakland, CA
    I have a Rogue Audio stereo 90 on CL for $825...not sure if this is permitted here...
     
  12. blackdiamond

    blackdiamond Forum Resident

    I have a Yaqin MC-30L that seems to retail for about $800 on eBay. One of my local audio shops had a connection with an importer and ordered one for me, It is an amazing amplifier in my opinion. The audio shop owner recommended it to me and didn't make a dime on the transaction which is one of the reasons that I trusted the recommendation. He compared it to a $4,500 Pathos integrated amplifier that he sells and basically told me that he preferred the Yaqin. Based on this purchase I wouldn't be scared to purchase another Yaqin product, though there is always a risk with products from China. The manual has some entertainment included with the translations.

    The Yaqin VK2100 is a hybrid integrate amplifier that has a tube preamp section and is closer to the $400 range. If I had money to burn I'd pick one up to compare the hybrid to the all tube amplifier that I have. It gets mixed reviews so do your research, but it might be a fun toy in the sub $500 range.

    My Yaqin MC-30L is connected to Focal 836v floor standing speakers and sounds fantastic.

    I signed up for this forum to pass along this information.
     
    thestereofan, Diptom and sportzdad like this.
  13. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    Friend, Go get a Peachtree. I spent 530.00 on mine and bought a demo at Gramophone in Timonium Maryland. I've never regretted it. Check ebay and you'll see plenty of Peachtree amps direct from them for very reasonable prices.
     
  14. erniebert

    erniebert Shoe-string audiophile

    Location:
    Toronto area
    This is good to know. I was looking at that Bellari a few months ago.
     
  15. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    save your money, get something better...in the long run doing that will save you money...
     
  16. DaleH

    DaleH Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southeast
    It's all about the speakers in vintage style tube amps. 15 inch woofers (under-hung) and horn mids and tweeters rule for low power (99db+), vintage (no feedback) amps. These speakers can sing with a few watts.

    More modern speakers, 90+ DB (8 or 6" under-hung) need more power and high damping factor, at lest 18 watts of from 211 or 845+ SE (negative feedback) designs.
    $$$...

    Lower efficiency speakers need more power (no SE, < push pull).
     
  17. Richard Austen

    Richard Austen Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Second Hand - Line Magnetic 211, Audio Space Mini 2SE, Jolida 202, Antique Sound Labs AQ1003DT. But I think in most of these cases you'd still be up around $800-$1000 but all can offer 20-30 watts.

    ASL http://www.divertech.com/asl1003dt.html
    LM http://www.stereophile.com/content/line-magnetic-amplifiers
    Jolida http://www.jolida.com/products

    (Note: It's been a long while for me and Jolida - but they used to sell a $500 ish tube amplifier so I would definitely research them - they had a lot of budget amps back in the day - Indeed, Antique Sound Labs sold monoblock power amps for $199 or something called the Wave 8's that were insanely popular for awhile. This was a sort of publicity thing to get people into the brand cause I doubt they made a penny on them.

    Audio Space http://www.audio-space.com/product-category/integrated-amplifier/
     
  18. jimbutsu

    jimbutsu WATCH YÖUR STEPPE

    Next time, hit up a crack-house in East San Jose and tell them you have $500 to spend... :D
     
    trd likes this.
  19. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    audio components (unless you get some crazy deal) falls under the banner "get what you paid for"

    cheap is cheap...

    my TT is a project carbon which is cheap, it took a while for me to get this thing to sound right and almost took a hammer to it on several occasions during the process ...
     
  20. Dennis0675

    Dennis0675 Hyperactive!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I am going to stick with this until we get it figured out. I would love to have great tube for $500. I keep hoping and waiting.
     
  21. Diptom

    Diptom New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fremont, CA
    Aahhh.... i decided on a NAD D3020 over Peachtree :(
     
  22. Diptom

    Diptom New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fremont, CA
    Thanks Larry. I read thru your and Cherkovas' comments. Trying to work with the Golden ratio :)
     
    Licorice pizza likes this.
  23. mtruslow

    mtruslow Forum Resident

    Location:
    Towson, Maryland
    Just a recommendation friend. I hope you're happy with your choice and I wish you the best.
     
  24. The Seeker

    The Seeker Forum Resident

    In the $500 or below price range, I believe that it is entirely possible for you to find a vintage tube amplifier that would meet or exceed the performance of any modern design under $1000.
     
  25. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Don't assume that such things are Gospel, Diptom. In my own room, I have tried 50 different combinations of speaker and listening chair placement (this is a luxury afforded to me for having a dedicated, albeit small, listening space). I tried the golden ratio, rule of thirds, 29% method, etc... In the end, I found that something in between, but still somewhat beholden to the "rules" was the perfect setup. Wide, spacious sound with a rock solid center image. It is unfortunately a labor of love - lots of trial and error - but, in the end, moving stuff around is FREE! And oh what a difference it makes. I had a friend listen the other day and he asked me where the center speaker was ("is it behind the TV?") At that point, I smirked and the feeling of accomplishment was pretty profound. It cannot be overstated how important it is to be familiar with the material and just move stuff around in a logical manner until it all snaps into focus. You'll know when it does, trust me.
     
    Licorice pizza likes this.
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