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"Embiggerment" factor

peterh,

There is something very pleasant about tube stuff. I've used only tube gear since 1985- my main system is Audio Research SP10 and D115 and though I used this only for LP really, the occasional tuner was a 1965 McIntosh MX110. In my office I used a Fisher 800D tube receiver.

In all, I ended up with quite a few tube items:

ARC SP8
ARC SP10
ARC D115
McIntosh MX110
McIntosh MC240
Dynaco PAS3
Dynaco ST70
Fisher 800
Scott 330D (
Peavey VMP2 (mic preamp)
ART DI/O - well it has a 12AX7 !
EICO HF-14
McIntosh MR67

and solid state:

ARC LS3
ARC D130
Revox B160
McIntosh MR77
Cambridge Audio 640C
Marantz 2235
Marantz 2275

Of course, tube stuff has it's bad points- definetely more fuss, but I keep returning to it. I continue to listen to solid state when I can- Krell, Levinson, Plinius, B&K, even Adcom, but I just don't find the sound of solid state very engaging- tuners and power amps are not so bad, but I just don't seem to like the preamps especially.

Last year, I decided to make the office system solid state- this might be on 18 hours per day and I didn't like to burn tubes as background music or sit muted for hours while on the phone or out of the office. I bought a Revox B160 tuner, and Audio Research LS3, and D130 and my first CD player purchase, and a Cambridge Audio 640C.

As I see tuner prices going out of sight I decided to "settle" on two tuners, one for the main system and one for the office. I bought a McIntosh MR 77 solid state and everyone who heard it preferred the Revox. A few months later came a McIntosh tube MR67 and I was in love with FM all over again- and it produced a sensation like you describe of weight and depth. I couldn't believe the wonderful deep, wide image, sense of air and space, and nimble and transparent bass. I didn't realise until reminded what qualities I'd been missing.

All reproduced sound is artificial and I think a person only has to listen and choose the distortions and artificialites they like more. I don't think a person- if they've listened around- need ever feel ashamed of liking something for reasons others find dubious- fro it to be effective, music has to inspire a kind of aesthetic and emotional romance- and there's no accounting for love!

The MR67 is an extreme case- it's certainly not the end-all in specification for sensitivity, selectivity, or frequency response, it has a lot more self- noise than the MR77, but in comparison with the MR67 I'm drawn into the music, it seems alive and dynamic and I can listen for hours. In fact, it's a dangerous thing in the office- I keep stopping work to listen. This happens less with the CD.

You'll find tube and solid state that seems awful and others miraculous -as I find the SP10 preamp- I think a good approach is to become self-indulgent through informed confidence: hear a wide range even of things you'll think you'll really hate- as I seem to with Krell- and see what you gravitate towards. As I say, I used tube stuff a long time, then found what I thought was a quite good solid state system ($9000 if purchased new)- and immediately tubes returned I knew I had been missing tube qualities.

As for tube stuff sounding "bigger"- this has the ring of another common comment on tube stuff that a 100W tube ampifier sounds more powerful than 100W solid state- people refer to "tube Watts" being more than "solid state" Watts. Possibly it's the large power supplies instantly sending out big currents in good tube stuff that make it seem so, and perhaps it's strong second order harmonics that give a "rounder" sound, but I think it's more the generally deeper image and air around discreet sounds that give it a deeper, weightier sensation.

Our friend Soundmind seems to have some irrational hatred of tubes- perhaps he's frightened by the larger output tubes, but in truth there there is pretty poor tube stuff as well as the transcendentally wonderful. This is true of course of solid state too. Let's listen to an Adcom 400 ss preamp to an Audio Research SP10, then we'll an Audio Research LS10 (ss, $5500) and compare that to my tube Dynaco PAS3 with it's capacitor hum, an ARC 610T to a Crown, a Marantz 10B to a Kenwood 3500, then a Revox B760 to an EICO. - A person using powerful predudice and general contrarian bloody-mindedness can force alternating false conclusions of superiority until the end of time.

Again the only person to please is yourself and if tube stuff is terribly wrong - so be it, let it be terribly wrong all day and night!

Cheers,

Bambi B

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