stereo tube amp for bedroom speakers? - Page 2

The cheapest integrated tube stereo amp that anyone should buy is the Rogue Cronus Magnum . At $2,200, it is not cheap. There isn't much in the way of integrated tube amps that are good and also affordable. You may get one that's "affordable" but I can guarantee you that it's not going to sound good. Not when you compare it to a cheap solid state amp. I have a Chronus Magnum myself. It has an excellent Phono Stage as well if you ever want to hook up a record player.

A More budget friendly solution and one that I have had my eye on for my own bedroom system with my Swan M-1s is the new TEAC AH-01. This is an integrated amp and DAC with a 32bit/192khz Sabre DAC chip. At 8 ohms it outputs 22W using the ICE Amplification (50W at 4 ohm loads), but for a bedroom environment this is plenty of power. The integrated DAC will be far superior to your sound card and it will work on Windows using asynchronous USB.

Other options include Cambridge Audio amplifiers.

You may consider a Jolida Amp as well, but I have read some reviews on their lower end model, the FX10 that made me believe that a solid state amp from Cambridge Audio would be a better choice. This Review of the higher priced JD10 seems to be pretty good, however.

Idealy for tube amps you'd want a speaker that is relatively sensitive probably 90+db. The b&w's are rated at 88db sensitivity and would be better paired with a Solid State amp.

With that said, I'd probably look into getting a hybrid intergrated amp. Which is basically a tube pre and a solid state amp rolled into one.

Couple to check out (But not limited too)
Jolida JD-1701 (50wpc) Review
Peachtree Decco2 (40wpc) $600 on crutchfield Review This is a review for the idecco which is exactly like the decco2 but has a ipod dock on it.

There is nothing wrong with Vintage Amps. It's not my thing, though. I've never owned one, but a friend of mine had an old Marantz that he refurbished and it was pretty good. It doesn't compare to the Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum, however. He replaced his Marantz with the Cronus Magnum.

I strongly encourage you to read about USB Class 2 Audio and Asynchronous USB Audio. Your soundcard is INFERIOR in every way to USB Class 2 Audio and Asynchronous USB Audio. I know it sounds really silly to send audio data through USB, but I assure you, it is the most jitter free and sonically pure way to transport digital music from your computer. There are some caveats to consider here. Are you using MP3 music? Don't worry about USB Asynchronous devices. Just use your soundcard and be done with it. Are you using FLAC or WAV files, or more importantly, high resolution audio files like 24 bit, 192Khz, or 24 bit, 96 Khz audio? Then you should really consider the USB Asynchronous or USB Class 2 Audio devices. I would guess that you're using MP3 so if you are, my advice might not actually be relevant for you.

http://www.audiophilleo.com/definitions.aspx?Asynchronous%20USB
http://www.hifi-advice.com/USB-synchronous-asynchronous-info.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CEIQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xmos.com%2Fproducts%2Fdevelopment-kits%2Fusbaudio2&ei=sVMoT8DaGMbIgQfuybDzBA&usg=AFQjCNG0BJUWwBlraxldOXa-eUFRwABsEA&sig2=KjNnMuAXxRmqDw_46sUCng

I'm not understanding what your requirements are then. Are you doing digital with your soundcard from your PC, or are you using a record player?

http://www.soundstage.com/equipment/teac_agh600nt.htm This is another TEAC Product that I have seen reviewed highly. I've been really liking TEAC Products lately because they've come out with some nice looking "REference Series" designs. They also make the upscale Esoteric brand which I have used several times and I really love their stuff.
Edited by Greg121986 - 1/31/12 at 2:00pm

I was at work for my last posts, being paid to not look at audio reviews and not read OCN so I wasn't really clear with some of my info.

"Stereo analog out" from your sound card is no better than taking a digital audio signal to an external DAC where it is then processed into an analog signal and presented to your pre-amp and power amp sections. In fact, is completely inferior when compared to an external DAC. There is nothing that will counter this argument. When you say that you wanted was analog, I don't think you're going into the direction that you really believe you are. A tube amp being fed an analog signal from your sound card is really not an "analog" system. It is a digital system that is processed by your sound card and fed to an external amp. The external amp is not a bad thing, but relying on a sound card to process the digital audio to analog is a really poor choice.

Something like the TEAC AH-01 is going to do the same thing that your sound card is doing. Albeit at a much better quality. The sound card and the TEAC AH-01 have a DAC chip inside of them. The DAC chip is fed a digital signal from the digital music files that are on your computer. It then converts that signal to an analog signal and feeds it to a pre-amp section and finally a power amp section. It does this all in the same device. There is an analog signal being handled and transported, but none of it is done within your computer. A PCI slot on a computer, and an ATX power supply in general are incredibly noisy when their electrical signals are scrutinized. These add unwanted noise and distortion to the analog audio signal as it is processed and fed to the other amps.

My argument is that with the TEAC AH-01 you will get a better quality audio signal than what your internal soundcard is going to provide because it is simply a better technology and better piece of equipment. It also provides you a compact unit which is nice to have in a small bedroom system. It also provides clean and reliable power from the same unit. To REALLY scrutinize things you can argue that having your DAC, preamp, and power amp sections all in the same box are really going to hurt your audio quality and I agree that it will. But what you gain from that is a small and simple package which I think holds great value for this application. Feeding a really cheap tube amp with a poorly converted analog signal from a sound card is only asking for a poor resulting sound quality. A tube amp might sound like a cool thing and I can assure you it is. But a bad tube amp is not a good thing at all! And for under $2000 you cannot really find a good tube amp that is worth buying when you consider the alternatives that are available in solid state.

The amp I posted (I think you are referring to the Rogue Cornus Magnum?) is made in the USA by hand and is an all tube pre-amp and power amp. It also has a tube phono stage. These things all contribute to its high cost and resale value. They also are the single biggest factor contributing to its excellent sound. This amp has an awesome phono stage which is typically not included on amplifiers that fall into this class. It ads incredible value to this amp.

The TEAC AG-H600NT is a good unit that will also give you a phono stage so you can use a turntable for analog records. It has a pretty decent one for its price range as well. I think this would be a great value for your application. I don't think the AH-01 has a phonostage so this might be a better option. The TEAC CR-H500NT is a cheaper alternative that still has a phono stage and a CD player. I think this would be a great option as well. For both of these products you will have to use your sound card as the analog source, which it seems you really want to do. So I think these would be really nice for what you want to do.

Also note the TEAC AH-01 has a subwoofer out pre-amp! I think this is pretty cool.
Edited by Greg121986 - 1/31/12 at 3:39pm

I'd love to get an Eddy Current Super 7 for powering small or extremely efficient speakers along with headphones. 6 output tubes to roll the sound however you like.


Edited by Draygonn - 1/31/12 at 4:16pm