[teknophyl]

Hi all and happy new year. Like the title says, I use my headphones for practically everything such as listening to music, watching movies, playing PC and console video games, and sometimes watching television (when awesome shows are on like the 24 hours of Le Mans). I was wondering what your opinions are for whether tube or solid state amps are best suited for all of these sources. Perhaps it's the romantic look of tube amps that leads me to believe that they are not suited to such brash, harsh sounds like gunshots and explosions but I may be wrong. Right now, I have my eye set on the Ray Samuels HR-2 but I may save up a little longer and splurge on a Raptor if I get some good feedback from people who use tube amps with many different sources. I know I probably won't get a definitive answer, so I'm just looking for some opinions. Thanks.

 

[Squeek]

Tube amps can run very hot. You could probably heat your apartment with the Raptor after watching 24 hours straight of Lemans!

 

[MikeW]

It depends if you like Tubes or Solid state. Whichever one you like the best, would be the best option. Keep It Simple Stupid

 

[euclid]

i use my headphones for everything as well, i had a tube amp for a while and now i have solid state, sonic preferecnes aside the SS is much less of a hassle, i always felt guilty if i had to turn the tube amp off (i didnt like to leave it running if i wasnt home), then powering it up again and waiting for them the warm up. also tubes are somewhat unpredictable in that they can hiss sometimes, for dialog this can be annoying.

if you need to move the amp around at all forget about tubes, if the amp will be sitting in one spot and you can leave it on all day then tubes should be a consideration.

 

[Gabe Logan]

Just finish playing UT2K4 with a tube amp and wow did it sound alot better than i remember with anything i had before(especially when the core blows up

) but i am not going to say that it is better than a SS amp like the HR-2 as i have never heared it before.

Doesn't Ray have a good return policy?

 

[NotJeffBuckley]

Condensed version:

A good solid state amp has measurably lower (on the order of 10% in some cases) total harmonic distortion at full output. A good solid state doesn't roll off highs. If your only goal is to output the signal exactly as it comes in but stronger, solid state's where it's at.

However, there is a relatively strong contingent of individuals who really like how tube amps sound, and if you're one of those you'll love 'em.

There's no way to know, really, except to try it out for yourself and decide.

 

[MikeW]

A pet peeve of mine is saying Tube amps put out more distortion (true) and then pretending, or misleading (by not explaining) that tube amp distortion is "Second Harmonic Distortion" and tends to be "euphonic".. 005% Solid state distortion is worse then 5% tube distortion. Distortion is an ugly word, don't want to give newbies the wrong impressions. And well built tube amps are dead silent at max volume. You need look no further then Single power or Headroom for this, im sure the raptor is too. Synergy i salso important, some headphones could use a rolled of high or 10.. anything grado, and DT880's come to mind. Tuberolling is pretty fun too

 

[teknophyl]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I see positive feedback for both types so I was pretty sure it would just be a matter of preference. I'm going to try to attend the SoCal meet and hear some tube amps before I make a conclusive decision, but I may stick with solid state for its simplicity unless the tube amps really make an impression on me.