Hybrid Integrated Amps without Tone Adjustments??

[Old Guy8]

When you say you think tubes is the sound you are looking for....
The only modern tube amps I've heard are my Sphinx V1 and recently a Cronus Magnum. I bought both unheard. I was not disappointed with either. But was expecting them to be warmer sounding, closer to vintage tube radios I've heard. But they sound closer to SS, IMO. I'm not qualified to discribe what you may hear. Don't want to repeat what others say. I'm guessing there is not just one tube sound. May be more variation in voicing in tube amps than SS.

 

[WickedCaesar]

I'm jumping in with my 2 cents.

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." -Potter Stewart, Associate Justice of the SCOTUS (Jacobellis v. Ohio 1964).

And you'll know it when you hear it.

I'm that "sweet spot" guy: I must be sitting in just the right place. So after years of apartment living in The Big City I naturally gravitated toward headphones. And much later streaming, currently at 256 Kbps ACC. I must say I have never owned a tube amp or phonograph, so I know nothing about the magical warmth that many seem to find in vinyl and tube. But I know when a stereo sounds good or very good and bad or very bad. Oh so so very bad...

With that said, I never mess with software EQs or boosts, never mess with the treble or bass. That stuff should have been done right by the producer when they mastered the tracks. So for me it comes down to watts, ohms, placement (in my case, some cans on my head). My signal path is kinda convoluted though (because reasons!). If I want to be in the sweetest spot then I have the cans on: Cirrus Logic CS4398 DAC (Max 192kHz/24-bit) >> Pass through ASUS monitor >> Pass through 11-year-old Logitech X-230 2.1 >> FiiO Mont Blanc headphone amp >> Sennheiser HD 580 Precision open-backed headphones. For warm, clear, loud and distortion free I set volume to 100% on the PC and then use the volume knob on the Mont Blanc. Classical, Metal, Country (and Western!)... it all sounds great. "Folks, here's a story 'bout Minnie the Moocher..."

If no headphones the path is DAC >> Texas Instruments LM4562 operational amp >> X-230. I plan to dump the Logitechs for a pair of Peachtree Audio M25 powered speakers and a sub as yet to be determined.

Btw, cool that one of the first replies on this thread came from Aggieland. Ain't that right, OP? Gig' em!

I'm going to go dream about some towers now. Happy listening y'all.



After 15 years, these Sennheisers are in desperate need of refurbishing, but really do sound amazing when driven by an amp that can handle the ohms.

 

[orsen]

Hey Orsen. Do you use the Yaquin between the TT and pre or for a CD player? For either is it a big difference than without it? Do you like the phono stage of the PT-100 without the buffer?

I have Kef 105's that I thought could take more power than my MCS 3125 receiver (115wpc but it might be underperforming a bit) or an NAD pre with 100wpc Adcom could give them. I experimented with a QSC GX3 pro amp (300wpc@8ohms) and sure it was loud but sounded like crap. Are you running both sets of KEFs through the M-70? That Yammie is on my wish list. Ironically I also have a Velodyne too, an older CHT-10 but it's doing HT duty.

Sorry for all the questions but the setup I'm pushing towards is similar to what you've already got. Thanks in advance.

.

every thing goes thru the tubes ...pre to tube buffer
mostly cause i use a pc for source most often
the tube buffer does buffer and mellow but not a whole lot even with different tubes
emotiva upa 200 to 104
yammie to 105
tho i did just change all that
today is yammie to ns-1000
upa 200 to energy veritas

 

[rmayer1701]

It's time for an upgrade (with an audio monkey on my back it seems its ALWAYS time for an upgrade...turntables, speakers, amps...no wonder I'm broke but I digress...) I've been looking at 2 different hybrid integrated amps; the Rogue Audio Sphinx V2 and the Croft Phono Integrated. Now this isn't a post asking which is better (sound quality can be so subjective wouldn't you agree?) or which should I purchase...although if anyone who's heard both has any insight in how they differ sonically it would not go unappreciated since I have no way of auditioning either.

Ok I'll get to my point. I noticed on both amps the absence of any type of tone adjustments. I've never cared for EQ's, but I've always felt the treble and bass knobs were an integral part of the whole music-stereo experience. I am bewildered by this inability to adjust the tone. Am I missing something? Is it because of the tubes? Are they just tonally perfect (lol anything perfect)? Is some sort of pre-amp or seperate thingamajig supposed to take care of this? I thought the whole idea behind an integrated amp was no seperates all in one box. Im sure my confusion is apparent. What does one do with either of these amps when they want to take a little edge off the top end or feel that just a little more low end is in order for this song, etc....?

Thank you for reading my bloated post (hey its sunday) & any insight in to this tonal conundrum would be helpful in my current quest for sonic bliss.

Probably too late to reply but I just saw this thread and you are where I was one year ago. I got the upgrade bug after many years of running vintage Marantz gear. I wanted the sound signature of tubes but not the hassle that goes with a full tube set up. Hybrids seemed to be the logical answer. My research led me to go with the Vincent SV 237MK integrated amp, in large part because it got so many glowing reviews. I have not been disappointed. It really is a wonderful sounding piece of equipment. Like you, I want tone controls, and the Vincent has them, along with a loudness switch which is almost unheard of now a days. It has an excellent headphone output, but no phono inputs, so a phono preamp is necessary. Not a deal breaker for me as I got rid of my vinyl a long time ago. It only has three tubes in the preamp stage and only one of them, the 12AX7 makes a real difference in sound when swapped out. That makes tube rolling much simpler. If you are still shopping, check out the reviews on this one. All the "tubey" goodness with 150 watts of reliable solid state output. And tone controls! BTW, I recently replaced the oem 12AX7 with a Genalex Gold Lion Premium and it really improved the overall sound stage. The other two tubes are Soviet military grade 6N1P-EV and there aren't many viable replacements for them. From everything I've read on various forums, changing them doesn't yield noticeable results like the 12AX7 does, and there are loads of both new foreign manufacture as well as US and British new old stock variations available.
My System:
Vincent SV 237MK
Sony HAPZ1ES media server (all my music converted to ALAC)
ifi Micro iTube 2 (used as a buffer/preamp between the Sony and Vincent)
Klipsch Cornwall lll's bi wired (the Vincent easily accommodates this as it has two sets of unswitched speaker outs)
Speaker wire is home made using KnuKonceptz Kord Ultra Flex 10 ga for the LF and 16 ga for the HF connections with Media Bridge connectors
Interconnects are 0.6 m Pangea Audio Premier SE