On a mission for Valves

Posted by: Harris V on 22 April 2002

Having taken great pride in the past in always listening before i buy i have become acutely aware recently that not only do i know nothing about valves i have not even heard a valve amp.

I have always assumed that Naim was about as far from valve amplification as you could get, mainly due to the hefty current delivery and bass control. Recently however, i have come to think that musicality and PRaT need not be absent from a valve design and am intending to listen to some, probably with sources that i am familiar with.

My question is simple, are there any designs/companies out there who follow similar philosophies to Naim? What should I listen to? I am doing this only out of burning curiosity and to be honest hope that it's not going to be a system changing experience.
Posted on: 22 April 2002 by Arthur Bye
There actually is some valve kit out there that can do PRaT. YMMV

Try Audio Note, Fi, and Art Audio for starters. I think I would try the SET route first.

Choosing speakers will be very important too.

Arthur Bye
Posted on: 23 April 2002 by Alex S.
If the Canaries sing in your part of the world you should listen to them: tubes with real pr&t. Try the Living Voice speakers with them.

Alex
Posted on: 23 April 2002 by Steve G
quote:
Originally posted by Harris Vallianatos:
Having taken great pride in the past in always listening before i buy i have become acutely aware recently that not only do i know nothing about valves i have not even heard a valve amp.



After being a Naim amplification user for a number of years I bought an integrated valve amp to see what I thought. After a couple of months of getting used to it I now use that in my main system with my Naim amps now relegated to a bedroom system.

I'm using an entry-level Audio Note amp (the Oto) and they're probably one of the safest bets if (like me) you don't really know what you're looking for. Audio Note themselves do some pretty good deals on used gear (probably taken as trade-ins) which they list on their web site. You may also need to get compatible speakers as well - the valve amp wasn't brilliant with my Credos but works a lot better with the Triangle speakers I'm using now.

Regards
Steve
Posted on: 23 April 2002 by Andrew Randle
Audionote are very good as far as valve amps are concerned. Certainly they are excellent at the cheaper end too.

If you want realtively cheap but efficient loudspeakers, Audionote also have the AX-twos (see Alco's threads).

If you want to dabble with a really cheap valve amplifier and get your hands dirty, then building a kit is a good way. Audionote and Hi-Fi World (the magazine) sell kits. The Hi-Fi World kits are very cheap, but am not sure how they sound.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"