Art Dudley on Tube Types...

[RGA]

As people seem entrenched on one tube being lousy while another is great I happened upon Art Dudley's take on some of the Tube types.

"Even at its humblest, a 300B is a fine thing. And at its best, this classic triode output tube can deliver some of the most intoxicating music playback imaginable. If tubes are liquor, the 300B is clearly absinthe. (The 2A3 is Cognac, the 45 is Armagnac, the F2a is Tequila, and the EL34 is vodka—which is to say, you can make almost anything out of an EL34, from the repulsive to the sublime.) "

Allnic Audio A-5000 DHT monoblock power amplifier | Stereophile.com

[Florian]

Allnic is the new compay from the guys who used to be Silvaweld ;-) There are a few Silvaweld components in our Apogee club.

[Feanor]

As people seem entrenched on one tube being lousy while another is great I happened upon Art Dudley's take on some of the Tube types.

"Even at its humblest, a 300B is a fine thing. And at its best, this classic triode output tube can deliver some of the most intoxicating music playback imaginable. If tubes are liquor, the 300B is clearly absinthe. (The 2A3 is Cognac, the 45 is Armagnac, the F2a is Tequila, and the EL34 is vodka—which is to say, you can make almost anything out of an EL34, from the repulsive to the sublime.) "

Allnic Audio A-5000 DHT monoblock power amplifier | Stereophile.com

Gads, here we go again Dudley & Atkinson in their $20,00 might seem expensive but you could spend so much more trip. Whatever.

I'm holding out for a good sub-$1000 EL34 (or KT88) amp, then maybe I'll give tubes a whorl.

Interesting are these reworked, KT90 amps from Manley on eBay, HERE, that will give 100 wpc in tetrode mode or 50 in triode. Too expensive for me, though.

[Poultrygeist]

I've heard the 300B called the King of Tubes while the 2a3 is referred to as the Queen of Tubes.

I once read a description of the 300B as a strong energetic young man while the 2a3 is like a beautiful sophisticated women in her prime.

[3db]

I don't understand why people put so much stock into other people's reviews if hearing is a subjective thing?

[Hyfi]

Gads, here we go again Dudley & Atkinson in their $20,00 might seem expensive but you could spend so much more trip. Whatever.

I'm holding out for a good sub-$1000 EL34 (or KT88) amp, then maybe I'll give tubes a whorl.

Sheesh, get over it already.

I know this is not the tube you wanted and is a couple hundred more than your limit, but this is one hell of an amp and coupled with a pair of Omega 6s or similar high efficiency speakers, it kicks royal ass.

Quest For Sound - High End Audio

[Feanor]

Sheesh, get over it already.

I know this is not the tube you wanted and is a couple hundred more than your limit, but this is one hell of an amp and coupled with a pair of Omega 6s or similar high efficiency speakers, it kicks royal ass.

Quest For Sound - High End Audio

Thread revival? Well, OK.

Truth #1 is that I haven't got $1200 for a new amp, much less one whose only purpose is to sate my curiosity. Since retirement I am officially sub-median income.

Truth #2 is that I am very satisfied with my current amp, a class D design based on the IRS2092 chip. It delivers what I want: high resolution & transparency, neutral balance across the spectrum, and clean, neutral bass.

The biggest improvement I've made in my system in a long while was the addition a few months ago of digital equalization via a free plug-in to my Foobar2000 player.

[Hyfi]

Thread revival? Well, OK.

Ha, I never looked at the dates and thought this was current since it had so few replies.

[RGA]

It's only 3 months - I've seen threads from 5 years ago brought back to life - not that it matters - it's the same posters here three months ago or for that matter 5 years ago.