• WARNING: Tube/Valve amplifiers use potentially LETHAL HIGH VOLTAGES.
    Building, troubleshooting and testing of these amplifiers should only be
    performed by someone who is thoroughly familiar with
    the safety precautions around high voltages.

I want a tube amp that looks good, and sounds okay. Get angry at me in this thread :)

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My 2 cent. Nobsound ms-10d hybrid tube amp(€145,-). Last year i got one for my daughter to play on her dynaudio audience speakers. And i was suprised about the great sound. And if you are lucky you do not have to pay import tax because shipment is possible from germany. Or look for Yaqin amps.
 

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I want a tube amp that looks good, and sounds okay. Get angry at me in this thread 😊

The copland CTA-401 I suggested retailed for 5k, going for 900 Euro. Uses EL-34s for 30W / channel in ultralinear. I’m sure you could look into other tubes for extra watts but I don’t think you’ll need them. I’d think the SF’s would sing with that kind of power.

I imagine Switzerland to Holland doesn’t result in import duties? I am in US, but was trying to consider a good European option.

It’s assembled by MIL contractors and it shows. I’ve used the CSA-14 and love it. Really beautiful and meticulously assembled.

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COPLAND CTA401

The Chinese stuff can be a never ending headache. Not worth it in my mind, and doesn’t fit criteria of aesthetically pleasing at least from my perspective.

I share your appreciation for the Sonus Faber approach and think it would match well. Speaking for myself; I couldn’t build anything nearly as nice or versatile for that ticket price. I don’t have any personal stock in this recommendation, it’s simply “what I would do”.
 
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Get your facts straight and do not copy everything from the net. I have nobsound ms-10d and it is an hybrid with tubes in the buffer stage. The el34 and kt88 are all tube amps.

It sounds really good. And i can compare with 813SE amp, 300bSE amp, Hypex UCD400, Hypex Ncore400, Hypex Ncore500, Sure electronics Tamp 2x400w all at the moment at home.
Had a lot of other amps in the past. For € 145 it is very great value for the money.
 
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Cost…

I wanted a steak yesterday; its been a long time. Imagining an 18 oz chunk of prime Angus, nicely blackened, rare-to-medium-rare in the center. Horseradish. Ridiculous smoked Carolina pepper sauce. A baked potato, a rasher of carrots. Forget the greens - that's for pikers.

I went to the store.
I found a prime ribeye. It was … exactly 19 oz.
So… I bought it.

Now, today, its gone.
And I want another one.

THIS IS THE COST of maintaining a great sound system.

GoatGuy


I love this. Bravo.
 
+1

Here's how I did it (in German, but you can just look at the photos). Aesthetics is a very personal thing, so... up to you!

Don't go the Chinese kit route. My experience with them is that they tend blow up and then they don't look pretty anymore.

Matthias, are you sure SE KT66 will provide enough power with low enough damping for the OP's proposed speakers? They are 89db 2.5-way bass reflex...

Best regards
Ian
 
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My KT66 amps are push pull, not SE. They give about 11 Watt into 8 Ohm before clipping. The KT66 are triode connected (lower plate resistance), and the output trannies have a winding ratio at the upper end. This results in a reasonably good output resistance / damping factor. The amp easily controls my AOS Studio 24 speakers, which don't have impedance linearisation. They are also not very sensitive (I'd guess somewhere in the 87 to 89 dB range). The volume control rarely goes over the 12 o'clock.
 
oh ok. The link you posted earlier showed an amplifier with only two KT66's. I did not however read it through to see that it was just a single monobock. I am not sure if the OP is looking for dual monoblocs. I don't see a volume control on your monboc, so he will also need some buffer stage which implies yet another box. Of course this could all be built into one big box.

LTP with 6SN7 works well with CCS in the tail and is cost effective. I was going to suggest KT88 PP.
 
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I'm planning on buying sonus Faber venere 2.5 speakers for "my" kitchen.

I want an amplifier to match them that sounds good, but even better - it should look good :) I'm considering Chinese tube amps. Does anybody have a suggestion for an amplifier that balances HiFi quality and looks? (800 euros tops?)

I won't get mad at you, but it seems to me that the better quality china PP amplifiers are no longer so inexpensive. Also, shipping for heavy items adds to the cost as well. For example, Pvane makes a Push-Pull KT88 amplifier which is probably decent enough, but including shipping it will still cost more than 800 EUR. You might look towards something used, closer to home.

The cheaper Chinese amplifiers (typically having spelling mistakes on the controls, etc) are about as wise a move as putting cheap tyres on a Maserati..

Also, do you have a space in your kitchen where it will really not have any chance of getting wet? No chance of a coffee spill on it either I hope. I have repaired a few coffee spill damaged amplifiers years ago...
 
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