SS Amp in my Future ?

[rollo]

Well with the 211 debacle maybe a SS amp should be considered. The Plinius amp sounded great with the Maggies outdoors. I own a 32 tube Audio Research DR 250 mk2 servo. About $1000 to re tube.[ 20 ] 6550s Hmmmm!!
   I listen about 5 hours a day. The speakers will be the Pipedreams, not the Maggies. The AR sounded great with the pipes but tube rush was an issue with such sensitive speakers hence tube replacement. The power and grace was something to behold but the noise was a PITA.
  I bought the Cyber 211s hoping to get that SET nirvana. When operating it truly was that. Especially after the part swap. Glorious.
  So do I now install a safety circuit to avoid future trannie frying OR what basically I  have a new cyber 211 with much better parts quality. a safety circuit and wonderfull GE NOS 211s. Hmmm! 
  using a tubed Pre and CDP. maybe a SS amp just might be the ticket. I now trying one is the only way to find out , but but some experienced opinions are appreciated. Think Plinius or stick with the SET or AR. 


charles
 

[Rob S.]

Charles,
      How much power do you need and what is your speaker impedance?

Rob S.

[richidoo]

You love the amp, your already have good tubes, you already modded it, and you are excited about the sound it makes with your speakers. You are 90% there. Going to SS in your case I think is only for convenience. You're not wishing for more low end slam or anything like that, so SS is a compromise step back for you. Tubes canbe very reliable. You got a good tech to help you, so you have that advantage most China junk suckers don't have. Get the safety circuit installed so you will have piece of mind, then enjoy it until you're sick of the sound of it in a year or two. Then you will really be ready to think about a different amp.

If your wife has you committed before then, then you can get a little transistor radio for your bedside.   

[bacobits]

I agree with Rich and that is what I probably would do too, install some kind of protection circuit.
Well, depending on the cost, or how much you can recoup selling them.

Or just buy a big bastard Pass amp and be done with.

He has a wife?
How does he get away with all that?

D

[richidoo]

Pass is an excellent idea Den, Pass has a cute new little integrated, a cross between the class A power amp XA30.5 and the class AB INT-150 integrated amp is the INT-30A, figure $5k+. But the Pipedreams need only a few watts to be happy, and Pass also has some new small amps out under the First Watt banner.



M2 and J2 are brand new this year. I have a friend with a couple J2s on his Feastrex OBs and he is ecstatic about them. J2 is 25W, single ended amp with feedback, the only production amp in the world using power JFET output devices.  The M2 is PP design, with no feedback, making 40W with a pair of MOSFETS. Ironically the J2 has balanced inputs, while the M2 does not. These run about $3k new, I think either would kick your pipedreams something fierce, with plenty of class A, single output device purity, SS grunt and silence. Low distortion, low source impedance, low maintenance. Same kinda heat as SET tube amp.

[Rob S.]

Rolls,
   Have you heard Atma sphere with your pipes?  seems to have the durability you need (30yrs plus, made in USA, high hours on tubes), has the set magic you won't want to give up, and complete uncolored sound from top to bottom.  If I lived closer, I'd drive a pair or M60's  or my S30 over to you to try.  only thing is they really love higher impedance loads, a set of speltz autoformers transformed my 4ohm and 8ohm speakers I tried with them.

Look forward to seeing what plays out with your amp dilemma.

Rob S.

[BobM]

Given that you need good, quality low power I agree that a Class A SS amp is probably the way to go, and there's no one who does that better than Pass. The First Watt's are also something to check out, but each model is a bit different and made "at the kitchen table" by Nelson himself. So it's a bit of an experiment to see which of those might be best.

Since you don't really need the low end guts of a SS amp since the Pipe's crossover at about 80Hz (?) I think tuibes would still be a better match overall.

Good luck

[bacobits]

Charles,
 
I'm pretty sure Fred "gopher" also in LI, NY has a Pass J2.
Fred  is a super dude and would probably bring it over.
He had let me try some of his toys.

Den

[rollo]

Thanks guys. The Pipes have a sensitivity of 96db. at 6 ohms. They cross over at 65db. Actually my dream Amp is a Joule electra "Rite of Passage". Easy on tubes but expensive.
    Yes Richadoo I really do like the SET sound with the Pipes. It has been so long since they were working [ F#@$%*&^(*&^%^*& ]  OK better now , that the Nervosa was rising.
   Rob the Atmosphere might be a good try. I'd give it a listen. Porzilli used a Melos tubed monster with 200 W plus with the Pipes in his home. Even though the speakers are 96db efficient there are a lot of drivers. [9] midbass and [24] 1" dome tweeters. That is mucho air to push.  The AR 250 with 240W of triode juice was awesome but that tube rush was soooooo audible it had to go.
   So re tube the AR for about a grand  ? Re tube the Classic 60 ? Use the Cyber 211 ? Sell them all and buy a Joule Electra ? The SS amps that I am considering are Plinius, Edge, Pass, MBL and Dartzheel.
   It will be fun trying but something tells me that the SET sound will be hard to better [ for me ]. It is addictive. I should have bought the Carey 211 amp instead of the Cyber 211 and all this would be moot. One dumb f**k. Let the games begin. Will I be Braveheart [ SET], Gladiator [ Push pull] or Pee wee Herman [ SS].



charles

[richidoo]

Cary has it's own problems. I had several serious problems with mine, including mfg defects, and I have heard many other stories. In that medium price range Manley trumps Cary with superior design, support, sound, and build quality.

Hey Charles, how big are the midbass drivers on your pipedreams?  Here's an idea. EQ the bass to boost the bass down to 30Hz so you don't need a sub at all. If your bass drivers are >5" (x9) you can do this. But your amp will need some power, maybe 100W. You could probably do it with passive line level filter. Aren't you already using some of those?

[mfsoa]

Maybe look at one of the VAC 30/30s or 70/70s that come up on Agon all the time?

If I needed low power tubes and had the $$ they'd be on my short list...

-Mike

[rollo]

Maybe look at one of the VAC 30/30s or 70/70s that come up on Agon all the time?

If I needed low power tubes and had the $$ they'd be on my short list...

-Mike

  Thanks Mike actually almost made the plunge on a 30/30 but it lasted 20 minutes on A-Gon. Bummer. Excellent synergy with the Pipes.

charles

[Rob S.]

charles,
     here you go:  http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1287686355&/Atma-Sphere-MA1-mk2.ii-amplifi    Take that guy for a spin.....

or get a pair of Atma M60's with less power ( 60w/ 8ohms, 45w/ 4ohms)   and much much cheaper, , but they still may need a speltz autoformer ( $300 used ) to raise the impedance to 12 or 16 ohms and grip the hell out of your speakers.  you'll have all the magic your used to with solid grip giving you the dynamics.  YMMV. 

Enjoy the ride,

Rob

[rollo]

charles,
     here you go:  http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1287686355&/Atma-Sphere-MA1-mk2.ii-amplifi    Take that guy for a spin.....

or get a pair of Atma M60's with less power ( 60w/ 8ohms, 45w/ 4ohms)   and much much cheaper, , but they still may need a speltz autoformer ( $300 used ) to raise the impedance to 12 or 16 ohms and grip the hell out of your speakers.  you'll have all the magic your used to with solid grip giving you the dynamics.  YMMV. 

Enjoy the ride,


Rob

  Thanks for the heads up Rob. Right now I am taking a break from purchasing anything. My recent fiasco just took the wind out of my sails for awhile. I need a break for a while.



charles

[tmazz]

charles,
     here you go:  http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?ampstube&1287686355&/Atma-Sphere-MA1-mk2.ii-amplifi    Take that guy for a spin.....

or get a pair of Atma M60's with less power ( 60w/ 8ohms, 45w/ 4ohms)   and much much cheaper, , but they still may need a speltz autoformer ( $300 used ) to raise the impedance to 12 or 16 ohms and grip the hell out of your speakers.  you'll have all the magic your used to with solid grip giving you the dynamics.  YMMV. 

Enjoy the ride,

Rob

An Atma-Sphere-MA1-mk2.ii? With 24 power tubes? If you are going to think about traveling down that road you might want to revisit the idea of putting new tubes in your D-250.