Naim Valves

Posted by: Rockingdoc on 18 June 2001

In a previous life I was a bass-player (well I still am, but I used to get paid for it). At the time a company called Trace Elliot ruled the world of bass amplification with their clean, fast, punchy solid-state amps.
At a big conference I asked the directors of Trace Elliot if they would build a valve amp, and they replied never as the "distorted" sound of valves had no place in bass amplification. A few years later under the pressure of a change in fashion (back to the wonderful Ampeg SVT) they introduced a whole range of valve amps.
It is easy to accept that an instrument amplifier is part of the sound creation and not meant to be a "wire with gain", but I don't believe that any hi-fi system comes even close to a "wire with gain" either. We all choose our systems for the sound they make rather than the sound they reproduce.
I have two systems; one all valve and one all trannies, and I choose the tube room sometimes for a certain mood, with the trannie room for a different mood. Neither is "better".
About ten years ago I asked some represetatives from Naim if they would consider making valve amps, and they wouldn't even take the question seriously. My impression now is that the trend towards valves in high-end hi-fi continues to grow. Could the market shift enough for Naim to build one?
Posted on: 18 June 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes
The problem with valve amps is that one is buying a product whose performance will fairly rapidly degenerate (when compared to solid state) from the first moment it's used. The more it's used, the more rapid the performance degradation, from the changes in thermionic emission levels within the devices used.

One would not get the prized longevity and consistency that is a significant part of the Naim product image.

I've heard the odd valve amp that is capable of producing music with some of the dynamics and excitement that I love about solid state, but wouldn't choose to add this to my collection at home, as I value consistency and longevity as much as the musical end result. The systems that have provided me with the most emotional involvement in music have all been solid state.

I believe it is possible for solid state to produce equally listenable sound without using valves. It may be that valve amps are better designed than many of their solid state competitors, owing to the highly prized skills of their designers and the attention to detail often missing in solid state. I believe JV even commented on this in an old magazine interview I read.

At the end of the day I believe that Naim believe implementation is more important than topology.

I do believe the current trend to valve amps is just that, more of a fashion / retro trend than anything else. There's certainly a massive amount of money to be made from selling a valve amp with audiophile pretensions, as one can see from the huge range of products springing up in magazines.

As far as the 'straight wire with gain' theory is concerned I'm in two minds. I accept the argument that, at the production phase, the equipment is part of the intended sound, but the goal of replay is primarily to reproduce this accurately. That said, in the active system that I use in the bedroom I've engineered a gentle 1dB bass lift at low frequencies that adds a small element of weight to the small 'speakers I use, primarily for low-level late night listening. One could argue, I suppose, that this is an attempt to improve 'accuracy' at low levels, but it's a tenuous argument !

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes

Posted on: 18 June 2001 by Rockingdoc
I use forty-year old Quad IIs (recapped and valved), left on all the time, and they don't really seem to "degenerate". The output valves last at least three years and the little ones go on for ever.
Posted on: 18 June 2001 by Nigel Cavendish
Does anyone know why valve amps seem to be so expensive, when they seem to be pretty simple in design?

cheers

Nigel

Posted on: 18 June 2001 by Rockingdoc
All high-end is robbery if you look at the component costs
Posted on: 18 June 2001 by Andrew Randle
The extra expense is mainly because of extra transformers and chokes. Valves aren't particularly cheap either (in comparison with trannies). Valve amps also tend to be 100% hand made and usually require more wiring.

Andrew

Andrew Randle
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