Topic: What's the biggest reason why you won't go tubes?

[Nelson de Leon]

a friend of mine who does not want to be named but also a member here said that the reason why he won't go tubes is because of the overly prized rate of every local diyer he inquired to. mas mahal pa daw sa mga branded amps in his posession kung minsan

Very reasonable nga ang mga local DIYers. Though there are also cheap china tube amps out there, depende din minsan sa parts na ginamit. But then again, it all boils down to synergy and preference. May install ako dati sa Paranque. He has branded tube and S/S amp. May Sakura din siya. In the end, he prefers the Sakura over the other amps. I'm a class D fan BTW pero hindi pa din mawawala yun inner desire ko with tubes.

[CoolTOYZPH]

I shared a comment to our common friend that when repair time comes, from experience the branded gear may have limited options whereas the DIY can be brought back to the maker and be restored to original.

Let me add a fellow music lover here at Pdvd just texted me "Ive heard many tube na including the primaluna, dynaco etc... special itong minima el84 amx".

As you said we should try to experience/explore the best that we can afford.......

a friend of mine who does not want to be named but also a member here said that the reason why he won't go tubes is because of the overly prized rate of every local diyer he inquired to. mas mahal pa daw sa mga branded amps in his posession kung minsan

[kayee]

For me this hobby of ours is all about ones pleasure,happiness and satisfaction (pampa haba ng buhay as they say) that is why for me I use both SS and tubes amps at the same time to fill out my cravings for good sound
( my preference for music that is ). tubes for the mid and upper frequencies and ss for the lows and inbetween. forget about the electricity bills and the heat and all the expenses associated with this hobby, as long as you are happy and have that extra money to spend I say why not go for it hindi natin madadala sa hukay ang lahat ng mase-save natin in this world. sa langit o kung saan man tayo mapunta after life e wala nang ss or tubes kaya habang buhay pa tayo we should try to experience/explore the best that we can afford.......just my 2 cents

+10 agreed....as long as happy ka sa hobby mo di mo na dapat isipin pa how much it will cost you sa electricity, sa parts ng ampli mo tube man ito or ss if masira ito para-paraan lang yan....and siguro mas maganda alamin mo rin gumawa ng ampli just in case na masira ikaw na ang mag repair ng gear mo siguro...di ako techies pero marami ka naman malalaman sa forum ng elab magbasabasa ka lang and kay boss tony meron din naman ako natutuhan sa mga post niya sa elab and he's nice if meron ka gusto matutuhan. diye'rs lang ako never ako bumili ng buong gear ko sariling sikap and happy naman ako sa ending ng tube ampli ko....

[regsantos]

I dont want to pick a fight with you sir tony but I cant figure you out.

First, you diverted the topic to nos tube and used tubes.

Now your inserting 'modifications' on a nos/used/russian/chinese tube comment of mine and cooltoyz.

To tube roll or to replace the original tubes that came with your new amp is reversible. It is not a modification. 

All the more you are making it confusing for members who want to try vacuum tubes.

And what does me being a 'techie' have to do with all of these. You can have a tube amp and enjoy it even if you dont know the difference between a soldering iron and a soldering lead.  Just ask around, in my case I would recommend Rene Rivo if someone needs assistance.

If anyone wants to venture to flea powered amps, check the SETUP/Harana guys!

While asking around and reading forums, Rene Rivo comes up alot. So I was curious because i want to move to tube amps for the reason that i like their sound more than ss. So i searched for him and talked to him. Went to his shop and boughy a sakura which he modified. I then upgraded a few other things in my system. I have been consulting him since the day I bought the sakura and when the time came that I want to upgrade my amp I went to him for advise. He Is a well known tube amp maker locally. But then again he wal bluntly honest with me knowing that he is a diy guy he gave me options and did not shove diy down my throat. Technicalities that i have no idea were not mentioned because he understand where i am coming from. I just want better sounding amp not be a techie and mind the simpliest technicalities of things. So i chose to buy a china made current production amp. The reasons were its problem free and less frustrating. Most specially for beginners like me. My point is you need to start somewhere. Not everything will be perfect at first and small changes needs to be made. Upgrade will always be on the back of your mind. I am satisfied with my set up right now but i know sooner or later i will demand more and will upgrade eventually. DIY, monoblocks or whatever.

[dana]

sa presyo naman, kahit mahal, pag nasiyahan ka, nkakalimutan mo na  ...just no looking back for regrets
ganun rin, if mura naman, tapos ok rin  SQ performance, mas lalung panalo

[dana]

...
btw, the Luxman LV-105......is just about to sing after 4 years, sana this year,
i will give you the first crack to listen to it....

John and I have been talking to each other in the later semester of last year, that is when i learned
a lot of things from him, i just hope that i have comforted him enough, i am aware of his health issues,
but i am sure he will recover from it and will be good as new....we do compare notes from time to time...
techies support each other, not so many people know this....i am also in touch with the malabon boys...

i am also happy to know that my tukayo, Trod93 is now good as new, talked to him just the other
day about hs cambridge phono upgrade....

like i said, i have no problem with fellow techies, even if sometimes we do not agree about diskarte, and that is just about right....

i never take comments here to heart, but instead learn from it....
my recent foray into lending out tube amps to would be users actually thought me a lot
about tube amps, and why not? i know how i made it....
so in effect i am more enriched by the experience, amps cost a finite amount of money,
but the knowledge gained, priceless....

wow, at last. resurrection.
would like it sana in its original form, if have the chance to restore-purist .

hope John P & Trodt gets well soon in their old healthy forms....
I heard Mang Rod is also not that well lately- as I know then, vertigo and arthiritis lately...
hope they get well soon, and continue making those nice amps...

[tony]

wow, at last. resurrection.
would like it sana in its original form, if have the chance to restore-purist .

hope John P & Trodt gets well soon in their old healthy forms....
I heard Mang Rod is also not that well lately- as I know then, vertigo and arthiritis lately...
hope they get well soon, and continue making those nice amps...

i only met him once, or twice, i heard that also and i hope he gets better....
the LV-105 is now 220 volts with IEC inlet....

[tetablanco]

http://s446.photobucket.com/user/Teta_Blanco/media/20151216_110122_zpsclpsqogk.jpg.html

My 2A3 tube amp courtesy of Sir Tony.

[dana]

seksi

[tetablanco]

Thanks, Bud!

seksi

[tony]

after arriving from Sahkalin, in 2010, jopet sold me a quad of Shuguang EL34's,
i made a pp amp out of that and was exhibited in Dusit hotel....then after that,
i built two 2A3 amps using the Shiguang tubes....
the experience changed my mind about china tubes...
the shuguang el34's survived months of abuse....
i think that to generalise that "china tubes are junk" is unfair to say the least....
i still hold the belief that it s not the tubes, but what you do with t that matters...
i have high respect for Russian tubes, working as a QC/QA engineer in Russia for six years,
i know the work ethics of Russian inspectors, they can not be forced to sign reports
unless they are very sure of quality, reason being, they can go to jail if a product
bearing their signature fails due to quality.... and russian tubes have traceability,
they can track whoever signed a defective tube...

so what am i saying? generalizations are usually self-defeating....

[Abad Santos 7]

For me, its the Cost of Ownership.

1W of tube output is much much expensive compare 1W of Solid State.
So kung medyo concern ka sa cost, tube may not be for you.

Not declaring yourself as an audiophile might me the cheapest way to avoid
tubes.  Normally in my observation, pag audiophile dapat may tube. (Peace tayo dito hah  hahaha)

Hindi lahat ng Solid State mura din.  Stay away with Class A. Costly din ito.

Kung gusto mo ng magandang tunog, you have to pay for it.

[ti]

i enjoy the best of both world using amp switcher courtesy of sir markcrenz.

that's my dilemma before, pangarap ko talaga avr pero mapakinggan ko yung tube nagustuhan ko din.

swerte naman dahil match naman yung 2 amp sa speaker ko. 



 

[CoolTOYZPH]

TEACHING is LOVING... loving the SMART TVC. Unfortunately cannot find it on Youtube.

[majoe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvHH4iqTHpw

TEACHING is LOVING... loving the SMART TVC. Unfortunately cannot find it on Youtube.

[CoolTOYZPH]

^ THANK YOU! Was searching for it to show my son... Beautiful commercial with a tube amp included.

[dudong]

Any idea on what tube amp they used? Is it period correct?

A tear fell

Thanks for sharing!

[CoolTOYZPH]

^ the modern Tube AMP looks like a Sakura.

[Imperial.doom]

Bass is slow for uptempo/rock music. Will never go tubes, it is just not my taste. It may suit those who prefer audiophile/classical/acoustic music, not me.

[Courage]

Bass is slow for uptempo/rock music. Will never go tubes, it is just not my taste. It may suit those who prefer audiophile/classical/acoustic music, not me.

Ganito ba sa lahat ng tube amp/integrated amp?

[tony]

For me, its the Cost of Ownership.

1W of tube output is much much expensive compare 1W of Solid State.
So kung medyo concern ka sa cost, tube may not be for you.

Not declaring yourself as an audiophile might me the cheapest way to avoid
tubes.  Normally in my observation, pag audiophile dapat may tube. (Peace tayo dito hah  hahaha)

Hindi lahat ng Solid State mura din.  Stay away with Class A. Costly din ito.

Kung gusto mo ng magandang tunog, you have to pay for it.

coming from a true blue diy'er i agree....
and may i also add that a 1 watt tube amp weighs heavier than a 1 watt ss amp...
but TBH, i like the sound of a 1 watt tube amp better than the sound of a 1 watt ss amp...
but this is just me.....
except perhaps the avegon transistor radio that we used to own as a kid in the 60's....

[tony]

Ganito ba sa lahat ng tube amp/integrated amp?

generalizations are usually self defeating,
my answer is depending on the amp and the speaker combo,
the room acoustics and your listening preference....
too many other variables to just pin it on the amp....

[tony]

Very reasonable nga ang mga local DIYers. Though there are also cheap china tube amps out there, depende din minsan sa parts na ginamit. But then again, it all boils down to synergy and preference. May install ako dati sa Paranque. He has branded tube and S/S amp. May Sakura din siya. In the end, he prefers the Sakura over the other amps. I'm a class D fan BTW pero hindi pa din mawawala yun inner desire ko with tubes.

well said.....
diy'ed amps are truly more expensive than branded amps, say you have a branded amp that costs 100K, but the cost is so because, bumayad ng design at R&D yan, merong factory setup para sa tooling, namasahe yan, nagbayad ng tax. nagpa advertising, nagbayad ng commision sa mga resellers...but direct costs and labor may be in the 15k to 20k only...
locally diy'ed amps only have direct labor and direct material costs, they do not have the luxury of branded manufacturers' capability of buying in bulk materials and employing cheap labor...
end users usually  have no idea about this.....

[tony]

+10 agreed....as long as happy ka sa hobby mo di mo na dapat isipin pa how much it will cost you sa electricity, sa parts ng ampli mo tube man ito or ss if masira ito para-paraan lang yan....and siguro mas maganda alamin mo rin gumawa ng ampli just in case na masira ikaw na ang mag repair ng gear mo siguro...di ako techies pero marami ka naman malalaman sa forum ng elab magbasabasa ka lang and kay boss tony meron din naman ako natutuhan sa mga post niya sa elab and he's nice if meron ka gusto matutuhan. diye'rs lang ako never ako bumili ng buong gear ko sariling sikap and happy naman ako sa ending ng tube ampli ko....

kayee, just the other night i got a call from three young diy'ers half my age....
seated beside me s Alex, who builds SS amps whose construction will put a Crown PB3 amp a run for the money..
seated beside him is Leo who at 19 can build bigger traffos than me, imagine what he can do 30 or 49 years from now....
then to the right is Efren, who flew in all the way from Cebu to see me, i helped him build his first EL84 pp amp and he says he is hooked...
these gents came to see me about tube amps and amps n general...i tried to scare them, they wouldn't budge...
i am happiest when these guys are around.....we speak a common language...

[jerrylodi]

budget - SS
sound  -  tubes & SS

 

[Nelson de Leon]

Tumaba ka ata master Tony.

[CoolTOYZPH]

Please clarify what the long post with picture pa has to do with the thread title - "WHAT'S THE BIGGEST REASON WHY YOU WON'T GO TUBES?"?

kayee, just the other night i got a call from three young diy'ers half my age....
seated beside me s Alex, who builds SS amps whose construction will put a Crown PB3 amp a run for the money..
seated beside him is Leo who at 19 can build bigger traffos than me, imagine what he can do 30 or 49 years from now....
then to the right is Efren, who flew in all the way from Cebu to see me, i helped him build his first EL84 pp amp and he says he is hooked...
these gents came to see me about tube amps and amps n general...i tried to scare them, they wouldn't budge...
i am happiest when these guys are around.....we speak a common language...

[Abad Santos 7]

Ganito ba sa lahat ng tube amp/integrated amp?

Maybe yes / maybe not....the same also with SS.  It depends pa rin sa type ng music.

Newbie opinion lang po....Tube maybe dominantly 2nd harmonic that will make it slow on rock music.
Pairing it with a lower sensitive speaker will not be an ideal synergy. But it will perform well on vocals
but it will sound dry for Rock....My GUEST even you pair it with a high sensitive speaker, hindi pa rin
babayo ng katulad ng mga nasa Disco... pero pang Cabaret siguro pede na.

SS that can perform well with rock music, I would presume it will be dominantly 3rd harmonic.  It can give
you the bass that you will be looking but maybe it will not sound good on the audiophile area.  But
the number of Watts still counts.

There are SS designs that could be tuned either 2nd or 3rd Harmonic.  In my experience it falls under
Class A.  This is an expensive amplifier.  It can give you a good bass and will compete with the mid
that tube can give.

In my case, my SS amp is tuned in which I'm not nulling completely the 2nd harmonic.  I give a combination of 3rd and a little of 2nd.

In order to stay away from tubes, migrate to Class A SS amps.

[CoolTOYZPH]

^ if Separates is an option maybe a Tube Pre-amp and a Solid State Power AMP for a hybrid set-up.

[tony]

Maybe yes / maybe not....the same also with SS.  It depends pa rin sa type ng music.

Newbie opinion lang po....Tube maybe dominantly 2nd harmonic that will make it slow on rock music.
Pairing it with a lower sensitive speaker will not be an ideal synergy. But it will perform well on vocals
but it will sound dry for Rock....My GUEST even you pair it with a high sensitive speaker, hindi pa rin
babayo ng katulad ng mga nasa Disco... pero pang Cabaret siguro pede na.

SS that can perform well with rock music, I would presume it will be dominantly 3rd harmonic.  It can give
you the bass that you will be looking but maybe it will not sound good on the audiophile area.  But
the number of Watts still counts.

There are SS designs that could be tuned either 2nd or 3rd Harmonic.  In my experience it falls under
Class A.  This is an expensive amplifier.  It can give you a good bass and will compete with the mid
that tube can give.

In my case, my SS amp is tuned in which I'm not nulling completely the 2nd harmonic.  I give a combination of 3rd and a little of 2nd.

In order to stay away from tubes, migrate to Class A SS amps.

yes, Nelson Pass' Amp camp is one such amp....http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_amp_camp_1.pdf
and you can power it from 19volt laptop psu's....
Arnel Rabang working out of the middle east came out with single sided board lay-outs...
the design is single ended so that 2nd harmonics are not cancelled and thus mimic SET....
i can send you details if you pm me your email...
the amp as you will see uses the ubiquitous and cheap irfp240 mosfets...