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Great Tube Power Amp Recommendations

#22
While I totally agree that you can get some beautiful tone from a quality tube power amp at low volumes, I say that you are not getting the benefit of a tube amp that made you choose it over a lighter weight solid state at low volumes. (IMO)

JimmyM said:
With all due respect, I'd be one to disagree with that. I use SVT's at low volumes all the time and I dig it a lot. Nice and clean and clear and just as rich to my ears, just quieter. I prefer playing them a little louder (who doesn't?) but it doesn't bother me in the least to keep the volume down.

Anyway, I'd just go full-on SVT. They're easier to find, and all the preamps in the different SVT's blow away the BBE preamp IMHO, and even if you decide you really have to use the BBE, you can just stick it in the effects return. I can pretty much guarantee you won't feel much of a need for it, though.
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#23
i'm with jimmy on this one, clean tube tone is totally a thing, and a beautiful thing at that.

even well under the limits of any "pushing", a good real tube amp has something the ss amps don't.
 
#24
walterw said:
i'm with jimmy on this one, clean tube tone is totally a thing, and a beautiful thing at that.

even well under the limits of any "pushing", a good real tube amp has something the ss amps don't.
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Me too. That's why my dream power amp is a McIntosh 3500. 350 watts of clean tube power into a variety of impedances. Crazy price tag and probably 125lbs.

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#25
I have seen that B.K Butler Tube works used to put out a MosValve MV982 160w power amp. It was a 160watt rackable power tube amp. There are a couple on ebay for an okay number (200-300$)

I have never heard it so i cannot comment, but i know a lot people here really dig the Tubeworks tube preamp pedals, so I can only assume this think sounds pretty good.
 
#26
Oh Please, McIntosh clean is not the same of bass/mi amplifier clean. And the point of a high power amp in audio is not to distort.

Walk your bass head into a high end audio store and tell them you want to A/B it to one of their amp lines. They of course will have published measurements on their amps and it will show you how clean it is. You won't have this with your bass head.
 
#27
seamonkey said:
Oh Please, McIntosh clean is not the same of bass/mi amplifier clean. And the point of a high power amp in audio is not to distort.

Walk your bass head into a high end audio store and tell them you want to A/B it to one of their amp lines. They of course will have published measurements on their amps and it will show you how clean it is. You won't have this with your bass head.
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Which is exactly the point. I like clean power and I like tubes. To my ear, tubes do sound different from solid state, even when they are clean. This is why I don't particularly like the classic bass tube amps, like the SVT.
 
#28
edwinhurwitz said:
Which is exactly the point. I like clean power and I like tubes. To my ear, tubes do sound different from solid state, even when they are clean. This is why I don't particularly like the classic bass tube amps, like the SVT.
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You must be a fan of the old Hiwatt stuff? Amazing clean tones, so rich in harmonics and big lows. So different than the SVT but so nice in its own way.
 
#29
One Drop said:
You must be a fan of the old Hiwatt stuff? Amazing clean tones, so rich in harmonics and big lows. So different than the SVT but so nice in its own way.
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I sure am!
+1.
That mention of McIntosh amps takes me back when folks used the tube ones to amplify electric bass through JBLs.
Sunns were a HiFi design based on the Dynaco stereo amps. It seems we have far more recorded examples of them being cranked into wild distortion than the clear tones they could reproduce.
Hiwatt certainly did it right. All the sag and similar playability of Marshalls without the quick break up compression and grit. Original species Hiwatts were warm and clear. Fat and HiFi.
 
#30
One Drop said:
You must be a fan of the old Hiwatt stuff? Amazing clean tones, so rich in harmonics and big lows. So different than the SVT but so nice in its own way.
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I've actually never played through the old Hiwatt amps. I'd like to give it a try sometime. My old tube amp experiences these days are around a '67 Showman that I've souped up somewhat with a Hammond 1650T output transformer, beefed up filter capacitance, Philips 7581A output tubes and some other minor mods. It sounds quite nice. However, it's not enough to gig with. The Alembic F2B with big power takes care of that.
 

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