New Insight into ‘Tube Sound’

[ScottFan355]

Hello all! I’m the proud new owner of a mostly restored Scott LK-72. At the sellers house I was a bit worried and was uncertain if I would buy it. The reason? With his speakers (an unusual brand I’d never heard of) the amp (well, the combo of amp and speakers) sounded like a caricature of tube amp sound - warm to a fault, dark, thick, syrupy, you get the picture. Having previously used both a Dynaco ST-70 and a Scott 208 on my speakers I was 80% sure the sound was the result of the synergy between the amp and those speakers but still handed over my cash with a bit of trepidation...

I needn’t have worried. Once I hooked up the amp to my speakers (Hales Concept Two) the word that immediately came to mind was - natural. I don’t even think I’d use the word ‘warm’ - smooth would be the word I think. Any tendencies the Hales have towards just a touch bright and analytical are immediately washed away when paired with the Scott.

Other than the most in-your-face example of the importance of system synergy this has taught me something else. Always take descriptions of the sound of electronics with a grain of salt. What one person is hearing as the particular qualities of an amp is only true for that particular situation, that same amp might sound much worse or much better in a different situation. If I had the seller’s speakers I’d be looking for the brightest ss amp I could find, but apparently it was the sound he liked (he was switching back to his ST-70, which I felt to be just a tad warm and dark on my Hales).

Anyway just thought I’d share - thanks for reading!

 

[slow_jazz]

Enjoy your purchase.

 

[ScottFan355]

Enjoy your purchase.

Thanks - sounds great!

 

[dcgillespie]

The nature of sound versus the human experience of it is such that any effort to describe what is heard will always be subjective, with various factors contributing to the perceived impression of what is heard. The equipment itself, along with the other equipment a piece interacts with, the equipment's condition, personal health, personal preferences, etc., all play into the impression made on any one person. That's why it's not in anyone's best interest to automatically buy into the universal descriptions offered about a given piece unless the other factors those descriptions are based on are known. Your story is a good reminder that one-size-fits-all descriptions usually don't.

Enjoy your Scott!

Dave

 

[chuckworkb]

Perfect! Now sit back and enjoy listening to your music collection all over again. Enjoy!

 

[fredgarvin]

I like those Hales quite a bit. Finding an amp to properly match ones speakers is my favorite way to go.

 

[ScottFan355]

I like those Hales quite a bit. Finding an amp to properly match ones speakers is my favorite way to go.

Love my Hales, best audio purchase I ever made, at about 1/7th of their original price. I’m tempted to say I’ll never get rid of them but never say never in this hobby

 

[ScottFan355]

I’ve had nice speakers before (Polk, Klipsch, Dahlquist) but the first time I listened to the Hales I felt like I had joined a different club.

 

[heyraz]

I also like to include the listening space into the synergy equation.
I think it starts with the room, then speakers to fill the room and finally amps to power the speakers.
Good luck with the new Scott.

 

[trainbuftony]

I cant say ive ever heard of anyone being disappointed with the performance of an HH Scott product. No surprise it sounded geeat, thats kinda their thing. I sold a. Lk72 to a club member, thinking it sounded great. I heard it on his speakers (much larger than mine and very sensitive) And my jaw dropped again. All of the friends who ive sold Scott tube amps to really love them, and i always recommend HH Scott to those looking for their first real hi fi. For what they cost, they sure do sound great.

 

[ScottFan355]

I cant say ive ever heard of anyone being disappointed with the performance of an HH Scott product. No surprise it sounded geeat, thats kinda their thing. I sold a. Lk72 to a club member, thinking it sounded great. I heard it on his speakers (much larger than mine and very sensitive) And my jaw dropped again. All of the friends who ive sold Scott tube amps to really love them, and i always recommend HH Scott to those looking for their first real hi fi. For what they cost, they sure do sound great.

Yes it does sound great. Interestingly it sounds a little bit dark and rolled off on youtube but not on spottify, and spottify is definitely louder. Guess I’ll have to go premium again. I think this is a combination I’ll enjoy for quite some time though I’m sure I’ll get the itch to try a more powerful tube amp with the Hales eventually. But I doubt I’d sell the Scott anyway. I’m hoping to learn with it and complete it’s restoration.

 

[Retrovert]

Hello all! I’m the proud new owner of a mostly restored Scott LK-72. At the sellers house I was a bit worried and was uncertain if I would buy it. The reason? With his speakers (an unusual brand I’d never heard of) the amp (well, the combo of amp and speakers) sounded like a caricature of tube amp sound - warm to a fault, dark, thick, syrupy, you get the picture

A crossover with degraded PIO or electrolytic capacitors sounds exactly as you describe.

 

[Pio1980]

I had a 299C that thought sounded "theatrically tubey". It's now probably worth 500 times what I paid for it in the wood case, where ever it is.

 

[ScottFan355]

So I thought I’d share my observations after about a week. The amp with the Hales sounds fantastic and is very engaging and easy to listen to. Highs are a bit rolled off but that keeps the occasional ‘heat’ of the tweeters in check. Backgrounds are very black, in a way that’s noticably different than my last ss amp (9090db). Very hard to describe, but I guess it would be the difference between ‘space’ (ss) and a pitch black night. All in all a lovely, musical sound.

However, I do admit to missing a bit the top end, dynamics, and power of the 9090db - but not enough to go back to ss. The Sansui sounded ‘perfect’ while this sounds ‘magic’. But it has me wondering if ultimately a somewhat high-power (50-70 wpc) modern tube amp might be what I would want one day. Perhaps a kt88 amp with a more modern pre. But I’m not sure...

This should in no way be read as any kind of dissatisfaction with my current setup, just a quest for the best of both worlds in an all tube system.

 

[playittwice]

• Im kinda in the same situ, I have ask you,do you regret getting rid of your 9090?I need to move something to make room for another amp. Not sure which one to move is why Im asking. I have a 9090 also and dont want to have sellers remorse getting rid of the wrong one.

 

[Pio1980]

It's a receiver, not a bad one to be stuck with. If you are considering moving it on, consider separates as an upgrade path, and good higher power is expensive with tubes.

 

[infullview]

So what exactly defines "tube sound"? I can only think of two or three variables that may be involved in this very subjective claim that tubes sound different. 1) distortion of a type that may be pleasing? 2) no hard clipping (more like audio limiting) 3) better AC (inductive) coupling to the speaker (better AC resistance matching through the audio spectrum).
Item 1 and 2 are negatives in my book so that leaves item 3 - I can't remember the brand name, but there was a SS amp that boasted inductive coupling via an autoformer at one time. It might even have been Mac.

 

[ScottFan355]

• Im kinda in the same situ, I have ask you,do you regret getting rid of your 9090?I need to move something to make room for another amp. Not sure which one to move is why Im asking. I have a 9090 also and dont want to have sellers remorse getting rid of the wrong one.

Let’s just put it this way - I regretted it before I even sold it. But that’s how this hobby goes...

 

[ScottFan355]

So what exactly defines "tube sound"? I can only think of two or three variables that may be involved in this very subjective claim that tubes sound different. 1) distortion of a type that may be pleasing? 2) no hard clipping (more like audio limiting) 3) better AC (inductive) coupling to the speaker (better AC resistance matching through the audio spectrum).
Item 1 and 2 are negatives in my book so that leaves item 3 - I can't remember the brand name, but there was a SS amp that boasted inductive coupling via an autoformer at one time. It might even have been Mac.

Hmm, I have to ask whether you’ve ever heard a tube system and if not, why not? And if an amp sounds ‘pleasing’ with certain speakers, isn’t that the whole point? I could look at a painting by an artist with top technical ability but if it doesn’t move me who cares?

 

[playittwice]

Let’s just put it this way - I regretted it before I even sold it. But that’s how this hobby goes...

That’s kinda what I was thinking. It will stay, especially since I restored it myself. That makes it even harder to let go. A fella becomes attached to em, but ya can only have so many! Right!?