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Is it true that having both a solid-state amp and a tube amp offers the best of both worlds?

ilgeek

ilgeek

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Hi everyone,

As the title suggests, I recently came across several YouTube videos discussing this audio paradigm.

I’ve just purchased the Meze Empyrean II headphones along with the JDS Labs DAC/amp, and the combination is fantastic. I followed recommendations from this forum to make my choice, but now I’m starting to wonder—should I aim for something more, or do all amps sound similar?

I reached out to the Meze team for suggestions on the best audio setup within a limited budget of $1,500 USD. They responded with a few recommendations:

1. Schiit Valhalla 3 + Schiit Bifrost
2. Feliks Audio Echo MK II + Topping E70
3. Burson Conductor 3X Performance

One of these options features a tube amplifier, which piqued my interest. I began exploring and found the Cayin brand and their HA-2A and HA-3A models. Has anyone had experience with these?

I appreciate any recommendations, experiences, or insights you might have on this topic.

Cheers! :)
 
Be prepared, you may get unexpected (I see that you are new-ish) some non-flattering words about tube amplification from some folk here.

I have no comment about the options you provide. I know that tube pre-amp/solid state power amp combinations have been explored occasionally somewhere in the audio universe. Gets complicated.
 
I sold all my tube gear and haven’t looked back. I just prefer to hear accurate sound.
 
Last edited:
No! This is 2025, not 1955! :P

A good amplifier, tube or solid state, simply amplifies with no particular sound of its own (ignoring tone controls, etc.). With tubes that's more expensive , especially with power amplifiers (for speakers) where you need an audio output transformer. So with tubes you are more likely to get bad sound. There are no technical advantages with tubes. With solid state electronics, it's cheap & easy to get sound that's better than human hearing, depending on how much wattage you and what features you want.

With a solid state headphone amplifier, the main electronics are only a small part of the cost. Most of the cost goes into the cabined, controls, connectors, power supply, and distribution costs, etc.

Some people talk about tube "warmth", which is usually distortion. Most people don't want distortion but some people like certain kinds of distortion. Then the tricky thing is to find the distortion you like because if a tube amp has a particular sound it's going to sound different from any other tube amplifier.

Guitar players often prefer tubes for the way they tend to sound when overdriven into distortion/saturation. They often have their favorite guitar and their favorite amp. But you wouldn't want the whole band distorted like that.

Most of what you read on the Internet is nonsense. This is one of the few rational-scientific audio related resources. You might check out Audiophoolery.
 
ilgeek said:
do all amps sound similar?
Click to expand...
No, some have not flat frequency response and some have high output impedance that can change tonality of variable impedance headphones. But you can change tonality by applying EQ to your existing amp as well, so...
 
ilgeek said:
do all amps sound similar?
Click to expand...

Amps should sound exactly the same unless:

> They are being pushed beyond their comfortable operating range and distortion becomes audible, especially when caused by clipping.
> They are load-dependent and alter the net frequency response of your speakers or headphones.
> Amp becomes unstable and oscillates, etc.
> They have an audible noise level at the gain you're using.

There are probably some others, but this is off the top of my head.

For most amps these days these issues are minor to nonexistent and don't come up if you are not pushing the amp beyond its intended use.

Even tube amps don't usually add enough distortion or have high enough output impedance to make audible changes to the sound.

So to answer the question in your title, there aren't really "two worlds" so much as amps that are doing their job properly, and amps that aren't.

That said, some people like audible distortion added by tube amps and there's nothing wrong with that per se. But it's also true that ironically a lot of tube amps produced today don't distort the signal enough for it to be easily audible...
 
There is as much difference between a batch of ss amps as there is between ss and tube.

I decided to move away from SET amps after 15 years or so after retiring, as I would be spending far more time listening and tube amps are costly to run and to maintain. I home demo'd 12 ss amps and there was considerable difference that was not down to Class. I chose a first-class Class D one in the end - no regrets whatsoever

If on a budget, it must surely be best to buy a single good amp as otherwise you end up with 2 mediocre ones. Cayin is Chinese-built but perfectly OK. I had the excellent Chinese Consonance Opera Cyber 845 mono amps for many years and very good they were - but a lot more costly than Cayin.

Personally, I'd look for the best single amp you can afford (almost certainly ss and likely Class D) and be happy with it. Be aware that your speaker sensitivity and impedence may limit or at least influence your amp choice. Good luck
 
Saponetto said:
Just choose the amp you like.
Ears are too much gullible to be objective.
Click to expand...
Choose the amp YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF, not which one looks nicest or any other criteria. Not all good amps sound the same and mediocre ones vary more than good ones.
 
I have home-brewed tube amplification in my setup, and I made it a point to get an uncolored sound. Why bother with tubes then? Because I like the looks of the equipment, which consists of two nicely home-made and finished open chassis 140 watts each tube circlotron (bridge rather than push-pull output stage) style mono-blocks and a separate preamp, which is encased in a nice looking enclosure for shielding purposes. The top of the enclosure is made of perforated steel, and the glow of the 12 little duo-triodes in there are visible when looking down on the preamp. Besides sounding good, I gits to brag "Made it muh self.".
 
Multicore said:
How does an ordinary user do that?
Click to expand...
They buy many amps, listen to all of them in their system. They do this 'subjectively' (so no controlled listening) and let their eyes and functionality and looks as well as the costs weigh in on their decisions.
Then they return what they bought on Amazon (and let sellers loose money) and what they can't return they try to sell at a substantial loss.

But then ... they know what they like and believe they have selected the best (sounding) one .... right up to the moment the next best thing/recommended/reviewed device comes along or it starts to give problems or need more functionality.
 
Multicore said:
How does an ordinary user do that?
Click to expand...
You would need to arrange an audition of the candidate preamps and then select one based on perceived sound quality, features and appearance. Competent preamps will tend to sound alike, so then appearance and features take precedence in your choice.
 
Hear Here said:
Choose the amp YOU LIKE THE SOUND OF, not which one looks nicest or any other criteria. Not all good amps sound the same and mediocre ones vary more than good ones.
Click to expand...
No.
As I said, "Choose the amp YOU LIKE".
Ears are gullible, but eyes are pervertible in case of tube amps. ;)
 
the combination is fantastic.
Click to expand...
It's hard to beat fantastic! ;) Thats' one of the difficulties with this "hobby". The better your setup the harder it is to get an improvement. But if you want something different, try EQ, or different headphones or speakers ALWAYS sound different.

Not all good amps sound the same
Click to expand...
It's not that hard to make a solid state amplifier with noise* and distortion below audibility, and flat frequency response that's better than human hearing. At that point they all sound the same. You can achieve the same with tubes but it's more expensive.




* With high gain preamps for phono pickups and microphones, noise is sometimes a problem because the noise gets amplified. But it's not hard for phono preamp to be better than a record and it's not too hard to make a microphone preamp that's better than the ambient noise unless you happen to have a soundproof studio.
 
Im using a Cayin HA-2A with my Meze Liric :) (I sold my SMSL SP400 and I’m selling my Singxer SA-1.. the 1 watt tube amp is just that much more enjoyable)
 
"Is it true that having both a solid-state amp and a tube amp offers the best of both worlds?"

NO,
Only if hearing tube distortion is your thing does this statement ring correct.
Tubes can do nothing better than SS if completely transparent to the source reproduction is important to you.
If you really want to hear exactly what's in the recording, stick to high quality SS gear.
 
solderdude said:
They buy many amps, listen to all of them in their system. They do this 'subjectively' (so no controlled listening) and let their eyes and functionality and looks as well as the costs weigh in on their decisions.
Then they return what they bought on Amazon (and let sellers loose money) and what they can't return they try to sell at a substantial loss.
Click to expand...
That sounds horrible. And easiest to avoid by being informed. I had to go through many pairs of studio monitors in order to get ones that don't hiss, the buying and worrying about returning is just bad times over all.
 
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