Does anyone have any opinions on tube amps?

 

What kind of music do you listen to?

G35c, 5AT, NAV
INJEN CAI, Borla TD Exhaust, Grounding Kit
Kinetix Plenum, Hi-Flow CAT, Front Lip Spoiler
8000K HID, PIAA 7500K SPARK BLUE
Focal 165K2P, E10A.22, Eclipse HU, Nav-Tuner

 

Almost everything...techno/pop/rnb/alternative/modernrock/not too ghetto rap/some 80's.

 

I am very well familiar with tube amplifiers. What would you like to know?

www.s-waves.com

 

should I buy one? I'm thinking about getting either a ppi pcx 4125 or a soundstream vga500.4 or a xtant x604.
Running CDT HD62 or Focal Utopia 165w 6.5

But then I came across tube amps and now I don't know whether i should go with solid state or a Butler Tube driver. Don't know what to pick!

 

Tube amp? Or do you mean the vacum tube amp? I love the vacum. Its the best sound IMO. All the hardcard audio guys have one, otherwise they ain't hardcore.

~ GT-R the Ultimate Driving Machine ~
- 2004 G35 Ivory Pearl/Black Leather
- Auto/Nav/Premium/Sports/Aero
- 6 wire grounding kit

 

Sorry for the long response.

The amplifiers you have mentioned are decent, what we call 'daily' amplifiers. This means they are good amps to be sold on a daily basis because they suit most people's taste and work in many applications, but in their price ranges, there are better choices. Ever since PPI was bought by DEI, Soundstream was bought by Power Acoustic, and Xtant was bought by MTX, they are not the latest cutting edge designs they used to be. You timing is good as our store just finished comparing over 24 amplifiers in blind listening tests. In a similar price range, you will find the Diamond D5 & Zapco reference amplifiers to offer much more overall performance. Then a step up would take you to the Diamond D7, Genesis, Audison VR, and DLS.

As far as the Butler tube amplifiers, I have worked with Butler for over 5 years on their amplifier designs. In fact, I am working with them right now on a 6-channel design. While they are not as user friendly as the above mentioned amplifiers, they have a sound all their own that the others cannot match. I would skip the CDTs and purchase the Focals(or something better) but more importantly, I would have a proven professional help you design your system.

Based on the products you have mentioned, it sounds like to me that you are making the choices yourself without professional system design. A good system designer will design a full system ensuring proper balance and then you can purchase it piece by piece.

Our store is world reknown and IMO the reason is solely because of our system design. Intelligent people understand the importance of this and drive from all over the country. For example, this week we are doing a system for a production engineer from ESPN in Connecticut

BTW, we sell all of the products you have mentioned. Also, if you purchase the Butler, you MUST buy a VERY good crossover.

Rob
www.s-waves.com
www.dealerscope.com

 

Thanks for a comprehensive overview. After these companies were bought out, did they make inferior stuff or same quality but just nothing new/better? If I went with the CDT's i think I would just go with the daily use amps.

My installer hasn't planned anything elaborate as I'm just looking for a quality system and not a competition system.
He is pushing me to use either Zapco or Tru Technology Tseries.

So your overall suggestion is to just go with the focal utopias? Also when the speakers are rated say 100w rms, would I be sacrificing sound if I get a zapco amp rated at 50w rms or 75w rms?

On the tube amps, It seems like you have to know what you're doing. I never experienced one and just learned about them so maybe it's not the best way to go?? when you say good crossover, how much and how good are you talking about?

Thanks!

 

Some of the companies had a reduction in quality, but all of them are based on old technology and just cannot hang with today's leaders at a competitive price.

I would not recommend the CDTs over the Focals. Just my opinion.

I understand that you are not looking for a competition system, but you do want the same thing EVERYONE wants, the most performance for your dollar. John Fairchild has built some good amps at Tru Technology, but I prefer the Zapco.

Root Mean Squared(RMS) power ratings are only a small part of the overall equation. I would step down to the Focal K2P product and buy more power.

Don't be afraid of the tube amplfiers. BK has done an excellent job with the Butler amps. Even without the tubes, the solid state portion of the amplifier is superior to all above mentioned amplifiers. You may want to call Butler and ask for Jerry Demaze to learn some more. Tell him that Rob Elliott said to call.

A good crossover will cost you around $200 or if you have an Eclipse head, their crossovers can provide the level of performance needed.