Tube sound - what the artist/engineer intended?

[mhardy6647]

Since I am carrying on (and on) about, essentially, nothing , I will also mention that the 7591, one of the last of the "classic" hifi output tubes to be commercialized, was also - arguably - one of the best. There are an embarrassingly large number of pp7591 amplifiers here*.

The other really, really nice storebought amp of my ken was/is the McIntosh MC225. I would not mind having an MC-225.


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* just to take this comment to its bizarre extreme, I actually owned a single-ended 7591 amplifier for a while. Pulled from a low-end Westinghouse hifi console that I bought at a charity 'barn sale' a long time ago for $3, I rehabbed it and used it as my basement amp for quite a while. I used to loan it out to folks -- it used to come back, eventually... but one time it just didn't. It is still floating around somewhere in Massachusetts, last I knew.

In fact, this adorable little stereo amp was my first rehab project. My father was still around in those days, and he provided me with invaluable troubleshooting support and encouragement (not that he was generally an encouraging sort of guy -- but he did know how to repair consumer electronics!) - by telephone - as I nursed it back to life.

 

[mhardy6647]

What I liked, more than anything else, about the 299B, was the way LPs would sound through it, in particular Capitol's 1950s productions like the Sinatra albums or Nat "King" Cole's. But it was useless for CDs, and the tape outs weren't buffered (I guess) so there was a big loss of bass if I attempted to make a tape recording.

The phono preamp of the 299B may have been the special sauce in that case(?).
I have been generally unimpressed with the onboard phono preamps of the 1960s classic consumer stereo receivers and integrated amplifiers. I haven't ever really paid much attention to them, truth be told. Some are probably much better than others.

 

[Robin L]

Since I am carrying on (and on) about, essentially, nothing

But you aren't carrying on about nothing—this is a subject you clearly know, with technical background and practical experience to back it up. Considering how many other people who know nothing about the subject manage to go on and on and on about it, you are to be congratulated.

 

[Robin L]

The phono preamp of the 299B may have been the special sauce in that case(?).
I have been generally unimpressed with the onboard phono preamps of the 1960s classic consumer stereo receivers and integrated amplifiers. I haven't ever really paid much attention to them, truth be told. Some are probably much better than others.

Seemed to have a much better overload margin than anything else I've used—Clicks? Pops? Fuhgeddaboudit. Now that I've ended my addiction to vinyl, the point is now moot.

 

[Philbo King]

As an artist and engineer I have to dispute the theory of "what the artist/engineer intended".

My intention in any recording project is to collect royalties on the released product. If the music also sounds great, that is just gravy on the biscuit...

 

[Cwopete5]

I chased the “tube sound” for years. I rolled hundreds of tubes, owned Class A and A/B tube amps. Seeing as most of the music I listen to is from the 60’s and 70’s, which was played in the studio likely with tube amps and recorded on magnetic tape, my logic was that tube amplification should be the logical approach for my hifi. After much experimenting, including a short journey into Class D amplification (solid state, of course), I made what some would consider a radical departure from the norms of audiophiles and got into vintage gear. This is where I found the “sweet spot” for the sound I’d been search for all these years. Kenwood KR-10000ii from 1975 into Klipsch KG-4’s from 1984.

 

[CuteStudio]

got into vintage gear. This is where I found the “sweet spot”

I must say I largely agree.

The speakers I'm currently listening to are about 50 year old KEFs with B139 bass units, B110 mid, some tweeter that I'm not sure of, with Isobarik crossovers mounted externally on the plinth.. The only fixes I've had to do is to turn the B110s upside down a few years back.

Driven by a Single Ended Pentode amplifier with the OPTs out of the feedback loop, which shakes the room.

Awaiting a good service by me, upstairs is a Sansui 220 - this looks like a vintage transistor amp, but in in fact an EL84 pushpull.
I also have a Leak 3900A which sounds glorious too, a Sansui 8080dB, various Pioneers.

My favourite is Sansui, then Pioneer for sound.
I have an SR222 MKII turntable too, slightly modded by me.

My opinion of HiFi is that it hasn't really progressed since the 1970s.
But there again, one could say the same about the music.

The other day I listened to some Magico S3s (I think - they were big with twin 10" drivers), hooked up to some giant box with hosepipe sized cables.

Personally I use car audio speaker cables, but anyway - in general there's a sweet spot for musicality. I didn't like the Magico's midrange much, TBH my Muse M980-BT boombox has better midrange ( €149 ). I do use parametric EQ for digital music for the speaker and room, but in general I prefer the vintage stuff. Solid aluminium knobs too.

I'm sure there is good modern stuff, but I don't find it often in the HiFi world.
The best midrange (voice) I ever heard was on a stereo tube tabletop radio - which is logical if you think about it: Single ended tube, paper cones, alnico magnets - perfection

There's also another thing I find - the 'bit perfect' brigade. These people have clearly never looked at the waveforms in Audacity etc - oh the horror!!