Topic: Need amp and/or pre amp help. Getting ready to go the tube route

[Nick's Picks]

Other tube amp companies to look into..

- Rogue audio:  the older m120 monoblocks are 120w and pretty reasonable in price.  just replaced this year by the m150, so they are still pretty new

- Manley : they make real nice stuff.  the "stingray" integrated is highly regarded (by my dealer, who doesnt even sell them), and very sweet to the eye as well.  

[macdaddy]

I run a Jolida 302a, which feeds into my Klipsch speakers...

sounds alot better than you would think...

if you try the klipsch forum, you will see that some guys over there mod vintage tube amps. You buy one on ebay, have it shipped to these guys, who mod it and clean it up, and they send it to you. You could get an integrated this way, delivered to your door, for around $500

used Klipsch can put you back $350 and up, but they are big, so you might want to find those locally (otherwise shipping could run you a bill....

let us know what you end up doing...
you could

[Sugarite]

FYI first thing to do with a Jolida 302a is replace the SED EL34's with Electro-Harmonix fat-bottle 6CA7's (another name for EL34, but don't get the EH EL34), and upgrade the Sovtek 12AX7WA's to one of the hundreds of better options.

I have no idea why SED EL34's have gained recognition in audiophile circles.  They are a guitar amp tube, designed to offer enhanced Mullard-like coloration as an effect, not a good thing at all for hi-fi.  The EH 6CA7's are a much more balanced tube.  I've compared several EL34's in my Audio Innovations S500 (integrated 25W/ch Class A), including Mullards, SED's, and EH's, and the EH 6CA7 was a stand-out among the new production models and a revoltingly good value.

This is the type of thing that makes it so hard for tube newbies.  The difference in performance and longevity varies so widely between tube brands, even between different vintages of the same tube model from the same factory.  Learning the properties of different microphones is about 1/10th as inconsistent and intangible as learning about tube gear.  It can be a lot of fun, or a very expensive source of frustration, usually a bit of both.

The Jolida recommendation is a good one though.