Is there a cheap tube integrated amplifier for speakers? Sorta like the Little Dot II or Darkvoice of the speaker world? What's the absolute cheapest tube speaker amp? I don't know why, I'm really attracted to tubes.

Probably something from China?

I got a Pathos Classic One MKII for $1350 this month. Please also check Primaluna if you are looking even cheaper. Also other good names are Unison and Cayin.

Dimitris- 1350 is cheap?!?!?!

No but the Prima luna can be had used for around $800. Even tube headphone amps are more expensive than this!

Wow. So I suppose $800 is considered cheap. I was hoping for something <$300 hahaha. Just a teeny-tiny tube amp for high sensitivity speakers.... sorta like a T-amp tube equivalent....?

Have you looked at the dared MP5? It's a 13watt hybred. There is a few threads floating around. Here is a little review on it. I got a US version for $398 plus shipping and couldn't be happier altho I havent tried any speakers on it yet. Only using it for my MS-Pros.

Edit: Another one -> http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue24/dared_mp5.htm

He he! My bad! What about these?

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ube&1180284999

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ube&1180145872

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ube&1179345152

I dont know how they sound though.

Wow. Seems like the absolute cheapest for a Speaker Tube Amp is $440.

http://www.pacificvalve.us/MD84A.html

I suppose I'll stick with my cheapy solid state one for now =)

you can't honestly expect a niche product within a niche hobby to go for much less than $500... most speaker amps use good-quality tubes that cost some green, and solid state offerings down there will GREATLY outperform tubes. i'd much rather take a nice NAD amp over some nameless tube amp that uses poorly matched/highly microphonic tubes, etc. with that said the dared mp5 is gold. get one if that's all you can afford, i only sold mine because i decided to minimize my rig until i can actually make something organized. dropped all of the money (a little under $5000) i got from selling my home studio into my college fund (more like "cash to sit on for a badass car" since hopefully i'll get a scholarship) so i don't tempt myself to buy some monstrosity like the maestro zr.

that's right. i used self control... for now at least!

again, as to not lose the point of my post, the dared mp5 is about the only good amp you'll find way way down there in the sub $500 category. excellent piece of equipment for the money. looks like a coffee maker too.

A good place to look into is Ebay, there are many amps from the 60's available. Of course the amp should be inspected by a technician to replace any worn parts (dried up caps) and clean/lubricate pots as needed.

Found this in Ebay (not associated with the seller): http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Voice-of...QQcmdZViewItem

Quote:



Ohh yeah, completely understood. It's just with the "recent" influx of cheap tube headphone amps (c'mon... Little Dot II Tube for 100USD?) makes me wonder if there's an equivalent for speaker amps! I would imagine that a headphone amplifier has a smaller market than a speaker amplifier!

Anyway, I will check out the Dared again. It is also a DAC. Very interesting. I might sell everything and sit on the Dared hahaha...

BTW: Good luck on the scholarship!

Your next bet would be to score a used Mcintosh at a garage sale. If you are lucky and the people at the sale are putting their son's setup on sale then bingo.

Any new tube amp is going to be expensive.

Your best bet may be to buy a vintage tube receiver or integrated amp and have it recapped and retubed.

Probably be less expensive. A total recap, alignment without tubes is around $200 and the tubes can get expensive.

Search ebay for tube stuff.

Little Dot has a T_100 which is a 100wpc chip speaker amp similar to the popular T amps from what I understand. You can get it with a Tube stage for around $300 I believe

Nah, there are affordable tube amps out there, but most are vintage. Keep an eye on eBay for something like a Scott 299. Those will go around $300 and are pretty good. Sometimes a nice Stromberg Carlson will go cheaply, and the Dynaco ST70s can still be reasonable here and there.

If you're willing to take a stab at one yourself, take a look at the Bottlehead S.E.X. It'll drive efficient speakers AND it will drive your headphones. What could be better than that? Those run $379.

Still, the best way to go with tube amps is DIY. You'll save a heap of money and get exactly what you want.