8 watt tube amp for 3800?!

[RoyOtis]

Question: what in the world would make a tube amp cost $3800, especially a tube amp that puts out a piddly 8 watts?!

 

[reggiesanche]

Answer: The way those 8 watts sound

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Don't let this become another eat the rich thread.

 

[RoyOtis]

Answer: The way those 8 watts sound

I guess I don't understand. I haven't a frame of reference. I have always been under the impression higher watts meant more grunt.

 

[RoyOtis]

Don't let this become another eat the rich thread.

Oh not at all, I am more curious than anything

 

[RoyOtis]

I think what throws me off is the watts to price point ratio. But it's why I asked, avid curiosity!

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Well, part of it is that quality parts and custom wound transformers will drive the price up fairly quick.

 

[Nixxuz]

Because, when you get into amps for reasons other than wattage, the way those watts sound is far more important than how many there are.

Look at it this way; do you want the loudest possible stereo you can get get? Or the best sounding stereo you can get? Because for less than $400 you could strap an Inuke 6000 on to any 2 speakers and burn out your eardrums. But would it really sound great?

Also, look at a pair of fairly highly efficient speakers. Say 96dB. That means, from roughly 3 feet away those speakers will put out 96 decibels with ONE WATT. That's pretty damn loud. My tube amp puts out (again roughly) 75 or so watts into 4 ohms. 45 into 8 ohms. I haven't ever turned it all the way up.

Subwoofers, on the other hand, can use a heap of "grunt".

 

[Brice]

Could be silver wound output transformer. Japanese do this kind of amps. Supposed to be superb.

 

[s-petersen]

It's like copper capacitors for $75 and polypropylene for $.75 for the same mfd's some people claim they can hear the difference, The build quality of the copper caps will be top notch, and the poly's ok.
Personally with my speakers, and at my age, hearing, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Part of the price is the quality of the parts, then fit and finish, the rarity, the builder's name may have an influence,the perceived sound quality(not necessarily the specs) etc...

 

[Imprecise]

Is this amp from Romania or Czechoslovakia? The Soviet military used a lot of tube electronics because they were much less susceptible to electromagnetic pulse from nuclear explosions. The electronics were made in those countries to ultrafine specifications while also being ultra rugged., With the breakup of the USSR, they were free to seek new markets. These amps are genuine Class A with no switching bias 'cheating' without which a large Class A amp could double as a space heater.

 

[Pio1980]

Single ended tube audio amps are all class 'A'.

 

[primosounds]

Question: what in the world would make a tube amp cost $3800, especially a tube amp that puts out a piddly 8 watts?!

Since you did not mention the brand, we can only guess from the output of just 8 watts, it must be a SET, single ended triode, probably of the 300B variety. Depending on the source of that tube prices can be up around 1000 for a single tube and if it is a genuine Western Electric 300B about 2000. for 1 tube. And we are not even going into the other parts of said amplifier.
So 3800 sounds like a bargain for that amplifier !
For those who like to dream Audio Note sells amps of this type , and many others, that are in this price range, and more, much, much more expensive.

 

[Imprecise]

Is there no Delete function?

 

[darkblue94]

Is there no Delete function?

Become a subscriber and the delete function becomes available.

 

[primosounds]

Become a subscriber and the delete function becomes available.

Wow, that is like my state! They make you pay for every damn thing.
Nah, just being cheeky.

 

[Pio1980]

One may edit out a posting with short replacement post such as "Del,nt".

 

[s-petersen]

Wow, that is like my state! They make you pay for every damn thing.
Nah, just being cheeky.

You live in New York? (seiously!)

 

[Imprecise]

One may edit out a posting with short replacement post such as "Del,nt".

Like I did by asking the question about the delete function.

Concerning darkblue's suggestion about subscribing, I think I will wait until at least 24 hour from signing up to consider that.

 

[Imprecise]

Remember Audio magazine and their annual October edition surveying the audio market? One issue from sometime in the 1990s did list a $15,000 7-watt single-sided single-tube Class A amplifier.

I miss Audio magazine. And by that I mean the Audio magazine of the 1970s where one might find an article on writing a program for a Texas Instruments calculator for designing multi-feedback crossover networks, or how to design a power amplifier with no SID/TIM. You knew you were not reading Stereo Review or High Fidelity. (Which I also read.) Ou sont les neiges...