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It's like one of those itches you gotta scratch! For YEARS I've been looking at these kits and wondering how they would sound.I have a fully restored Sherwood S-5000 integrated amp arriving on Friday. So perhaps my tube itch will be soothed.
So what is the big difference between these amps sonically speaking. My use is low level classical so detail is important. I like large orchestral pieces. S I don't need something that sounds best with a single guitar or small chamber arrangements. Full sized music. My speakers are Zaph Audio SR-71 89db efficient.
For the last five or six years I've been moving back into solid state - NEW solid state. I couldn't stand the constant repairs on my vintage stuff any longer. I do like what I have. But I also miss that tube sound.
So is the 300b/2A3 worth going into. Or stick with my S-5000?
Addendum: the reason I did move out of tubes was heat. I was using KT88 and EL34's. I actually couldn't take the heat any longer. I am also moving to a very warm climate next year. So considering that, the limitation of heat, cost and sonic quality, if you had to have only ONE tubed piece (amp or preamp) which would you prefer? A tubed preamp with solid state amp. Or solid state preamp with a tubed amp.
charles
Edits: 03/04/14Follow Ups:
Virtually every piece of vintage gear that I've owned needed to have the AC mains input dropped 5-9 volts. AC was 110-115v back then, it is now 120v and is often 123v. This is reflected as B+, and filament voltages being too high: Which leads to tubes burning out fast + caps and resistors giving up too soon. Often the power xfmr becomes overtaxed and quits, Look how many Heathkit power xfmrs have been replaced as an example.
If you can afford it, own 2 stereos. Use the SE gear for vocals and small scale acoustical stuff, or low key evenings. Use the SS stuff for R&R and large scale stuff.
Heat, yup itza problem.
Some of us find an immediacy and sense of "presence" with the SETs that we don't find with other amps - and the lower the watts, the more this seems to be the case; i.e., more with 2A3 (3.5W) than with 300B (8W). Of course, you need effecient speakers to make the magic work, and it is more intimate with intimate music (chamber music, girl & guitar etc.).
YMMV
I'd live with the Sherwood for awhile before I got something else. You'll have more fun with it and when it wears off whatever is next.
Interesting about heat. Some of my solid state stuff gives off more heat than the tube counterparts....
See how the Sherwood shakes out. It may cure your itch. I had several 300B amps and now prefer single ended pentodes. YMMV. As another poster said, your speakers will not be a good match for complex music and low power.
big j.
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Yes, SEP at the moment and they sound great. It's to difficult to change a moniker. There may be a 2A3 down the road.
You might think about a 300B PP, or better yet, a 45 PP amp.
Observe, before you think. Think before you open your yap. Act on the basis of experience.
I emphatically endorse the unpopular approach of using the best tube power amp you can get with eith a tube or SS pre. It has been my experience that the power amp shapes and flavors the sound. The idea that the power amp just passively increases the volume just isn't true/ The 3D magic that tubes are so good at get squashed flat by an SS amp in many set ups.
In regard to heat all tube amps make heat. The EL-84 variants that Sherwood uses e.g. 7868 7591 and the 6BQ5=EL-84 tend to burn quite brightly I whole heartedly suggest that you not sit near your amp/s if you can help it.
I own several Sherwood amps and like them a great deal and also think that they can play your low volume but orchestral heavy weight music well, in part because they have adequate power but also because they have loudnes and presence controls, which I understand were made just for your situation.
Good luck and to others take it easy on me with my iconoclastic system approach,
Steve
Anyone running a CD player though a passive volume control into a tube amp is effectively doing SS for small signals with tubed power amplification; likewise, anyone running a SS active crossover into tubed multiamping.
The old Beveridge powered full-range electrostatic speakers had built-in amps with SS driver stages and tubed output stages. Another example is an old Macintosh integrated from the early SS days that had a SS front end and tubed output (I don't know what model it was.)
The Bottlehead Paramount 300B will do very nice with your speakers but... they may run out of gas with your speakers on certain very large orchestral pieces. Not mentioning the 2A3 aspect here as the lowest I would go is around a 92dB sensitivity with that setup. I also have the Bottlehead Stereomour 2A3 and they are glorious on full range speakers such as the Hornshoppes or the Frugal Horns. A sub would be nice with that mix. Having speakers with a greater than 95dB range would be sweet! Dreaming of Klipschorns...
As for the last question I have found that a tubed preamp hooked up to a good solid state amp is the way to go. The preamp will really be the voicing part and the amp just makes that louder. Had some Onkyo monsters a while ago and bypassed the preamp stage and used a Transcendent Sound Grounded Grid preamp using 3 12AU7 tubes and was awestruck! That amp had never sounded that good!
We do have a fair number of users running 2A3's on 88dB efficient speakers, though most of those users run with a sub.
I'd recommend posting your inquiry on the Bottlehead forum, as you'll get a good amount of feedback from folks in your situation.
I don't own, and know little about, the Bottlehead, but I wouldn't think a small SET amp would be fully sufficient to run 89db speakers, listening to large scale orchestral music.
I own a Sherwood S-5000II amp, and it is a lovely sounding amplifier, with lots more power on hand for the kind of music you like to hear.
I have tried running my el 84 based "set" amp, 3 watts, into my Merlins (87db), and it certainly is not sufficient power. My Sherwood, and even more so, my solid state Accuphase does a much better job fleshing out the sound.
Maybe a tube preamp, running into a ss amp would be the best of both worlds for your needs. Or a hybrid integrated.
I was leaning towards that direction. Now I have to find a tubed preamp that will match well with my system and with a remote.
Thanks for the input.
charles
unless it is a very small, low-power amp, which isn't what you need.
I doubt it will be a pressing concern once you have the Sherwood - they are great amps. The Sherwood should have plenty of volume and, more importantly, dynamics, for the music you listen to. Not that it isn't fun to research and speculate about other systems and I'm sure the Bottlehead's are very nice.
Where will you be moving? If heat has been an issue in the past, you should probably keep a SS system around. Perhaps use SS in summer and tubes in winter?
. . . Charlie
to the nice cool 108 degree summer nights.
charle
Hi Charles - I'll stick with Florida. Nice and cool here by comparison. Plus we've got alligators! If you can get them to sit still, they make great room treatments.
Be sure to post your impressions of the Sherwood.
. . . Charlie
It should be arriving today. Mike S. upgraded everything. I'll try to get him to describe what was done on the amp.
charles
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