I Recently Became An Audiophile.

[Lavane]

That’s fair enough. I’m not planning on buying a tube amp anytime soon, although I did ask for a price quote on the ST-70…

Even buying used, there is just so much support for these amps. Just do a search here and you will find lots of threads about the ST-70. and with a tube amp you really don't need a preamp to start out. Most line level output devices like tuners, CDP's etc will drive them just fine. You just need a volume control and maybe an input selector for multiple inputs.
At the moment I'm running my ST-70 off the tape out of my preamp. This bypasses the preamp completely taking the signal right off the input selector. I added a volume control to my ST-70 when I built the kit. It sounds great without any preamp.

 

[Oregon]

What are the benefits of using a tube amplifier over a solid state or a digital amp?

The sound of tubey warmth.

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Well, I just got my quote back, and…

The standard (no options) build I offer is $1,450.00
The cover is included in that price.
Tubes are not included.
Unit will be fully assembled and fully tested of course.
USA lower 48 shipping with FedEx is typically $60.00-$75.00

I am in the middle of a really nice "retro-special" ST-70 currently, should have this one ready to go in a few days. All NOS (tested within spec) vintage caps and carbon com resistors, like the originals had. Banana jack/binding post outputs, gold inputs, custom bias supply. I do about 1 or 2 a year like this, it's difficult to acquire these types of components needed for this type of build. This one will sell for $1,750.00




I might save up for something, but I’m going to buy audiophile speakers first

 

[Selmerdave]

I'm confused, if you build one or two ST-70s per year I'm not sure where you're coming from with your questions?

 

[62caddy]

I'm confused, if you build one or two ST-70s per year I'm not sure where you're coming from with your questions?

Everything from the second line down is what the OP was quoted by the builder.

 

[Lavane]

Those prices seem kind of high to me. Especially without tubes.

 

[Selmerdave]

Everything from the second line down is what the OP was quoted by the builder.

Ah!

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Those prices seem kind of high to me. Especially without tubes.

I mean, it’s one guy hand building it, so that tracks

 

[grillebilly]

All this depends on What Tube unit you are talking about and the speakers you choose to drive them with. Not all speakers mate well with every amp(type)

This is my take as well. Tube amp and pre made one set of speakers I have sound much better. A big SS amp and pre made another set sound better.
As others have said, there's nirvana in any well designed and set up system.

 

[grillebilly]

This might be an unanswerable question, but do certain music mediums sound better through a tube amp vs. a regular amp? I'm guessing that mediums like CD's or tape won't have any difference, but will vinyl sound better?

I think tubes mellow out digital mediums some. Vinyl sounds less "harsh" anyway.
Purists will say only tubes and vinyl or tape will get you the intended sound. Their ears must be way better than mine.

 

[loopstick]

I like the sound of tubes better. But it never became an issue until I bought a solid state guitar amp. That's when I noticed there was a difference.

 

[knotscott]

Sound quality is subjective, and we each define it differently. The best sounding amps I've heard are tube amps (Convergent). The best sounding amps I've owned are tube amps (modified Dynaco/VTA) ...and I've owned several good SS amps.

The Convergent amps aren't cheap, and defy all the stereotypes and are an exception to the rules of thumb....they do everything extremely well, but for the rest of the audio world, in general there are pros and cons with both tube and SS amps, and there are good and poor examples of each. My experience has been that tube amps can have stellar clarity through the mids and treble with an incredible sound stage, but tend to have less bass control and slam than SS amps. My solution is to run tubes amps on the mids and tweeters, and a SS amp on the woofers (bi-amping), but that's a more complex scenario than many people are willing to pursue. Another benefit of tubes is the ability to tailor the sound to your liking by rolling different tubes in the circuit.

In the end, you only need to satisfy yourself, and ultimately need to decide for yourself which best suits your needs.

 

[gadget73]

What a bargain, an extra 300 bucks for old crappy passive parts that I normally throw away.

This one will sell for $1,750.00

 

[Lavane]

What a bargain, an extra 300 bucks for old crappy passive parts that I normally throw away.

That's kind of what I thought. He left the old drifty carbon comp resistors and film caps. For that kind of money it should have a better modern copy of the driver board too instead of that old brittle phenolic board.
I've seen some nicely restored ST-70's being sold on AK in barter town
For about half that price with tubes.

 

[zackthedog]

That's kind of what I thought. He left the old drifty carbon comp resistors and film caps. For that kind of money it should have a better modern copy of the driver board too instead of that old brittle phenolic board.
I've seen some nicely restored ST-70's being sold on AK in barter town
For about half that price with tubes.

Well, wait a minute. Let's be fair here. Those CC's look new and they *do* still make them, and they aren't cheap. The could also be NOS. I've got a pretty big stash of them myself but I get tired of testing them all for drift. Those are probably new silver micas, and the Black Cats might be NOS or used and tested for value and leakage. There are folks who use vintage caps in their guitar amps and get lots of nods from their colleagues, right? Let's not impune the guy's work unless we know what he's really doing there. Could be they sound really nice.

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

What a bargain, an extra 300 bucks for old crappy passive parts that I normally throw away.

Yeah, usually if a craft takes peoples time, they’ll charge a whole lot extra for it

 

[Yeeterkeeter]

Well, wait a minute. Let's be fair here. Those CC's look new and they *do* still make them, and they aren't cheap. Those are probably new silver micas, and the Black Cats might be NOS or used and tested for value and leakage. There are folks who use vintage caps in their guitar amps and get lots of nods from their colleagues, right? Let's not impune the guy's work unless we know what he's really doing there.

Exactly. Even if he’s using old tubes or equipment, he builds one or two of these a year. that’s a lot of time, it’s also a lot of effort to do that. And remember, it’s hand assembled, so this guy is putting in a lot of work.

 

[mcgjohn]

I just recently became an audiophile a couple months ago, so I'm pretty new to the whole deal. What are the benefits of using a tube amplifier over a solid state or a digital amp?

even the best solid state amps can sound pretty dry. only exception would be the Dart Zeel but way out of range for most. Tube amps and preamps usually will hold you in your listening seat longer than a solid state amp will. Have owned many copies of both over the years, and always make my way back to tube gear.

 

[zackthedog]

even the best solid state amps can sound pretty dry. only exception would be the Dart Zeel but way out of range for most. Tube amps and preamps usually will hold you in your listening seat longer than a solid state amp will. Have owned many copies of both over the years, and always make my way back to tube gear.

Whoosh! Those are pricey! Be interesting to hear one, though. I always liked YBA gear when I used to sell it, I thougt it had a nice liveliness and liquidity that I could live with. They're very fairly priced, too. We sold quite a bit of it as an alternative to tubes, as well as a step up from the Rotel and NAD stuff that cluttered up the shop. ;-)

 

[mcgjohn]

Whoosh! Those are pricey! Be interesting to hear one, though. I always liked YBA gear when I used to sell it, I thougt it had a nice liveliness and liquidity that I could live with. They're very fairly priced, too. We sold quite a bit of it as an alternative to tubes, as well as a step up from the Rotel and NAD stuff that cluttered up the shop. ;-)

yes quite so. Have heard them quite a few times. A good friend has a pair of their monoblocks. They do sound good though. Once you hear them, it would be really tough to return to almost any other solid state amp.

Yes YBA made some nice sounding gear, but still not quite tube.